


Forbidden

by warringah_frogqueen



Category: Bright (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bodzvokhan holiday, Bright AU, Country & Western, Date Night, Dreaming, Eventual Smut, F/M, Financial Issues, Flirting, Fresh Start, Friendship, NSFW, One Night Stands, Orcish traditions, Orcs, Shameless Smut, Single Parents, Veterans, family business, farm life, horse therapy, moving interstate
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:20:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 28,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26712838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/warringah_frogqueen/pseuds/warringah_frogqueen
Summary: Welcome to rural Wyoming!Where orcs and humans try to live along as good as possible and where elves are rarely seen, since you do get dirty when living a country life.Big city girl Steph found herself back home in Laramie after a heavy blow of fate. Old and new encounters turn her life upside down.
Relationships: Nick Jakoby/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> OK, this is another take on showcasing you my love for the Bright universe and especially my love to a certain orc :-D This time the story is set in an alternate universe. You might know one or the other character from the original movie, but be prepared...nothing is like it seems.
> 
> Other than my previous work "To the Moon and Back", this isn't written in the reader's POV. I hope you'll like it, although I won't be able to update on a daily, but hopefully on a weekly basis.  
> Adding more tags with each chapter.

A successful season for the San Francisco 49ers laid behind and Steph found herself right in the middle of the big celebration after their last game. She’d been part of the teams supporting orc staff for three seasons and she didn’t plan on giving up her position as one of the orc players’ physiotherapists. It needed strong hands to knead the sore muscles of pro players and although she’s a woman, she brought the right amount of vigor to convince the responsible bodies to hire her.

“Hey Steph! Come over here!”, a huge orc shouted across the club, when she walked towards the bar. She nodded and signaled back to get a drink first, then leaned over the counter to order a beer, when a strong, blue mottled arm suddenly wrapped around her shoulder and pulled her close.

“You owe me a beer, if I spill it!”, Steph harshly pushed the Outside Linebacker away.

“And you still owe me a kiss! Remember our bet?!”, the orc pulled her back close. She smiled at him and gave in.

Being the only female staff member would have been dreadful to less confident women, but for Steph it meant lots of fun. She knew how to handle big, strong monsters and given the fact, that she knew all of them at least half naked, meant she not only enjoyed her work, but also the time after she’d left the stadium.

The other orc from across the club had joined her and her kissing partner at the bar. He grabbed her ass and whispered into her ear: “What about the three of us having some fun later tonight?”

Steph opened her eyes and looked at the orc, who pulled his tongue out of her mouth, smiling. “Tarek? You’re in?!”, she asked him. The Linebacker nodded at his teammate and gently bit into Steph’s exposed shoulder. “Fuck You Tarek!”, the other orc hissed at him, knowing that he had just secured his right to fuck her first. Steph handed over her beer to Tarek, turned around and wrapped her arms around the slightly smaller Cornerback: “Tonight he might be shoving his dick into me first, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be left out Colin!” Steph opened her mouth and seductively licked her lips, while her left hand grabbed his family jewels. Colin twitched and started purring: “When do we leave?”

Tarek put Steph’s beer to his mouth, emptied the bottle and slammed it onto the countertop: “Now!” Steph turned back around and looked surprised, but the toothy grin of Tarek convinced her to leave the party sooner than later.

The three of them shared an Uber to her place. Steph always preferred the guys coming over, instead of being the one who has to leave whatever corner of the city she’d ended up in. They couldn’t keep their hands and tongues to themselves, driven by their primeval instincts, intoxicated by their scents of arousal and the few beers they already had at the club. Colin paid for their ride, while Steph texted her roommate Tina, announcing her return home, ultimately warning her of the upcoming noises from her room. The two girls had known each other since College and both had absolutely no issue with the other’s sexual encounters.

Steph felt her phone vibrating in her pocket, but wasn’t able to check on it, because Tarek already had thrown her over his shoulder and carried her upstairs. It wasn’t the first time he’d been at Steph’s place and he knew exactly where to go, while Colin was close behind them. Steph giggled and the two males both grunted out of excitement, when Tarek suddenly stopped right in front of Steph’s apartment. He carefully put her back to her feet and she acted somehow annoyed, when she faced him to ask what was wrong, but he just pointed behind her.

In the doorframe to the apartment stood Tina, her eyes red, her make-up ruined. “Why didn’t you answer your phone?!”, she asked with a sobbing undertone, “I tried to call you at least four times!”

“I’m sorry T! What happened?”, Steph closed in on her and embraced her in a comforting hug, not knowing that soon she would be the one who needed consolation.


	2. Chapter 2

She never liked flying. It felt unnatural. She’d been on a plane for the first time in her life, when she left her small hometown in Wyoming to go to College. Growing up on a ranch in the middle of nowhere, horses were Steph’s preferred mode of transport. Over the last three years her anxiety slowly subsided, because of the frequent traveling across the country with her team. But today wasn’t a good day. She wasn’t looking forward to touch down in Cheyenne, to face her father and all the other grieving friends and relatives.

“I didn’t know you got a new truck.”, Steph timidly commented, while her Dad put her suitcase in the back of it. She barely had contact to her parents, since she moved to California. They had always hoped their daughter would return to Wyoming to follow into their footsteps leading the ranch, hoping Steph would use her therapeutic skills to establish a horse therapy program, once her biggest childhood dream.  
“Your Mom wanted a new truck! Told me to get rid of Daisy…”, the old farmer answered, without looking at his daughter.  
“You scrapped Daisy?!”  
“Na, she’s behind the barn”, a brief smile appeared on his lips, thinking of his beloved 1956 Chevrolet Pickup.  
“Mom allowed you to keep her?”, Steph tried to keep up the conversation, while climbing into the passenger seat.  
“She couldn’t leave her bed any more…I don’t think she knew I didn‘t get rid of her”, he answered while starting the engine.  
Steph had to swallow. She suddenly realized, that she had no idea how her Mom was doing in her last months. She had no clue about her struggle with cancer. She remembered the day when her Mom called to ask if she was coming home for Christmas, then casually mentioning in between, that they had found a tumor in her brain. Her Mom had assured her, that they had it all under control, that she’ll let her know if things worsen. Now, Steph hated herself for not going back home for Christmas and instead going on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera with some friends.  
“Was she in a lot of pain?”, she had to swallow some tears, before she turned towards her Dad.  
“I don’t think so…I mean, the morphine probably did its job…”, his eyes were pinned to the dusty road ahead of them.

  
They didn’t talk much for the next 45 minutes, and when they arrived at the family’s 70 acre ranch, close to Laramie, they only exchanged the necessities. Her old room still had her smell on it, stuffed with all sorts of memorabilia and lots of trophies and ribbons from all the equestrian tournaments, Steph had participated in during her teenage years. She placed her suitcase at the foot of her bed and jumped backwards onto the soft mattress. Spreading herself out like an eagle, staring at the ceiling she tried to remember the voice of her Mom. Tears sprung to her eyes, realizing that she’ll never hear her again.  
The heavy footsteps of her Dad climbing upstairs startled her and she quickly sat up and wiped away her tears.  
“Knock knock…”  
“Who's there?”  
“Leslie.”  
“Leslie who?”  
“Leslie town and go ride a horse.”  
Steph had loved that stupid joke as a child and had a huge smile on her face, when her Dad entered the room and sat down next to her on the edge of the bed.  
“It feels good to have you here munchkin.”  
“Dad…I’m so sorry…I should have…”  
“Shhh…it’s OK”, he interrupted his daughter and put his arm around her shoulder.  
“When do we have to leave?”  
“The funeral starts at 2pm, we should leave in about an hour.”  
“OK, let me just unpack a few things and I’ll be ready to go.”  
Her Dad nodded, got up and walked towards the door.  
“Dad?”  
He turned around: “Yup?”  
“I love you! I know I should have said that more often”, she let her head down.  
“I love you too, munchkin!”


	3. Chapter 3

It was a beautiful memorial service and the church was filled up to the last spot with family, friends and neighbors.

The urn burial took place afterwards and Steph’s Dad invited everyone over to the ranch for the post-funeral reception. Steph had forgotten how close everybody was back home in rural Wyoming, when she saw the amount of food all the guests had prepared and brought along. She loved living in a big, anonymous city, but now she realized, how valuable it was to be a part of a strong community.

A lot of guests wanted to talk to the “lost” daughter of the house and Steph soon found herself in the stables, hiding from all those nosy people. The stall, where her once beloved horse Cargo used to stay in, was empty. The other five were occupied, with horses she didn’t know. Everything felt so familiar, yet so strange.

“Steph?”, a male voice suddenly echoed through the stables.

“Miles?!”, she turned around to face her very first boyfriend, the neighbor’s son, who asked her out on a date for the entire sophomore year, until she finally gave in and they ended dating for almost 2 years.

“Oh my goodness, Miles! You look great! How long has it been? 5, 6 years?” She walked towards the tall orc.

“Actually, it’s 8 years since you decided you’re to good for us Yokels!”, the lean orc responded with a smile, before they both embraced each other in a long hug.

“What do you think of a beer or two?”, she suggested with a wink, “I haven’t been to Stu in ages!”

“I’d love to, but I’m here with my parents…no car.”

“We just take my Dad’s truck!”, Steph grinned and strode towards the house.

Many of the funeral guests had already left and Steph’s father gave her the keys to his truck. “If you’ll scratch it, I’ll take it off your allowance!”, he said with a cheeky smile, when he spotted Miles nervously waiting for her outside.

At first Steph thought it would be fun to catch up with her teenage friend, but they hadn’t even reached Stu’s pub, when Miles’ prattling about his parent’s cattle farm already annoyed the shits out of her. _Let´s get this over with,_ she thought to herself, when they entered the old pub, which looked like coming straight out of a Western movie.

“Shut the fuck up! Is this really you?!”, the bartender was all excited when he saw Steph.

“Well…depends…do I still have an open tab?” she responded to the old orc naughtily, before taking a seat at the counter.

“The usual?”, Stu asked her.

“That would be great! Hadn’t one in ages!”

“I’m so sorry about your Mom! How was the funeral?”, the bartender wanted to know, while he drew her beer.

“It was alright…the usual...tears…annoying family members, more tears…”

“…and lots of food!”, Stu completed her sentence, when he placed the cold beer in front of her.

“Miles…what are you…having?”, she turned around to look for her company, but apparently the feeling was somehow mutual and he had been more interested in a group of male orcs watching a bull riding tournament and had joined them in front of the tv.

“You should break-up with him!”, a calm, male voice came from the other end of the counter.

“Excuse me?!”, Steph turned back and wanted to see, who had made the false assumption of her dating that idiot.

“He’s clearly not worth it!”, the good looking orc with filed down tusks continued, “He should have never left your side!”

“And why is that?”, Steph returned, slightly irritated.

“Because there are always guys like me, taking their chances”, he gave away a broad smile.

“Are you hitting on me?”, she couldn’t believe, that this guy really tried to flirt with her, on the day of her mother’s funeral. At the same time she felt this bubbly feeling inside her tummy, sheer attraction to that stranger. Something she hadn’t felt in a while.

“First, I want to express my condolences. It must be hard for you. I lost my mother two months ago…”, he lowered his head, glimpsed at his fingers which played with the damp coaster of his beer, but then he lifted his head again and looked straight into Steph’s eyes. His strong gaze was overwhelming and she had to swallow.

She didn’t know what was happening to her body. The body that was used to be an object of desire. The body she thought she’d known so well, she’d have total control over. But somehow this orc had a different effect on her. She had no idea, what it was. Was it his lovely scent lingering in the air, the different mottled skin patterns on his face or was it the mysterious glow in his golden eyes? She gulped down her beer, hoping to regain her usual sassy attitude.

“Can I get you another one?”, the orc cautiously asked. He had picked up her insecurity, but felt intrigued and definitely wanted to get to know her better.

“Yeah…why not…thank you!”

“Stu, could you please get that lady whatever she was having?”

“Of course!”, the old bartender answered with a grin on his face.

The attractive orc stood up, walked over with his beer in his hand and sat down next to her. When his arm slightly touched hers, a shiver went down her spine.

“Hi, I’m Nick!”, the orc turned towards her and smiled, his left ear slightly twitching.

“Steph. I’m Steph…”, she stuttered.


	4. Chapter 4

_What are you doing?!,_ Steph thought to herself, when she looked at her reflection in the mirror of the pub’s restroom. She couldn’t deny, that this orc made her nervous. Nervous in a good way though. Nick was clearly attracted to her, she had been able to smell it from the moment he sat down next to her. He seemed to be a genuinely nice guy, but still…she couldn’t quite grasp why that stranger had such a strong appeal to her, as if… The ringing of her phone brought her back to reality.

“Hey Dad! No, Miles is no longer with me…he had different plans…well…I’d prefer to stay for a little bit longer or do you want me to come home?...Yeah, I know…if I scratch it…got it Dad!...I only had two beers so far…What do you mean with _follow the protocol_? I should ask Stu? Wait…what is that supposed to mean?!...Hello?! I’m 27 for Jirak’s sake! Alright…yes…YES SIR! OK, bye!”

“Ask Stu…what kind of bullshit is this?!”, she repeated under her breath, when she returned to the bar. She expected Nick to wait for her to come back, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“Great! Jilted before I even got a chance…”, Steph sighed and let herself sink onto the barstool. “Stu! I need something stronger than beer! I need a Bourbon!”

“Your Dad told you about the protocol?”, the old orc replied, giving her a patronizing look.

“What is wrong with you old men?! I have no idea what you’re talking about! Would you please give me my Bourbon?!”

“Make that two, please!”, Nick suddenly approached her from behind and put his hand on Steph’s back. “Sorry, I needed to answer an important call”, he excused himself, “I hope you missed me!”

The touch of his hand provoked a fuzzy feeling and in combination with that cheeky grin of his, Steph was completely overwhelmed and searched for the right words. Thank Jirak Stu presented her the whiskey. She took it and drank it in one go, slamming the empty glass back on the counter.

“Whoah! Take it easy…or…”, Nick commented.

“Or what?! Are you afraid, that I’ll outshine your drinking skills?”, she stared at him, partly proud that she finally regained some confidence.

“You?! Outshining me? That will never happen!”, he took his glass and emptied the Bourbon as well, puffing his chest.

 _This could be fun!_ Steph thought to herself and ordered another round.

They soon found themselves giggling over at the pool table, where Steph desperately tried to sink her billiard balls into the pockets, but failed miserably. Nick gave her hints on how to position her hand properly to better guide the cue, but Steph was too drunk to take his instructions seriously.

“You need to show me!”, she whined.

Nick took the chance and stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her body guiding both her hands.

“You need to put this hand onto the table…you need to control the stick…”

Steph loved the feeling of his strong hand touching hers, while his other hand helped her to position the cue.

“…now try to not move this hand…put back your elbow…and concentrate on the white ball…”

She loved the way he gently pressed his body against hers from behind and both her ears started twitching because of his steady breathing, close to her head.

“Are you ready?”, Nick whispered.

“Ready!” Steph took a deep breath and stroke out. Both of them watched the white ball sinking the orange one into the opposite pocket.

“I won!”, Steph jumped up and accidently hit Nick’s nose with her shoulder.

“Oh I’m so sorry!”, she watched him cover his bleeding nose with his bare hands, “I’ll get a towel for you!”

Nick sat down and patiently waited for her to return with a pile of napkins.

“I knew you were trouble!”, he cheekily grinned at Steph, who really had a bad conscience and tried to help him clean his face.

“Is there anything I can do for you?”, Steph timidly asked.

“I want to dance with you…”

“Here?!”

“Why not?”

“But…but…I’ll choose the song!”

“Deal!”

After the bleeding had stopped, Steph walked over to the huge Juke box and opted for a slow Faith Hill song, one of her favorites. The alcohol in her blood finally had its effects on her and she had started to relax around Nick, who still was a stranger to her, but she really wanted to change that.

When the first tunes of the song sounded through the half empty pub, Nick slowly closed in on her, extending his right arm towards her. Steph’s heart was beating erratically and her hands started sweating. _This is just a flirt!,_ she tried to calm herself.

“Breathe”, Nick put his right hand on her hip and grasped her other hand, gently pulling her close. Their faces only a few inches apart, Steph couldn’t help but stare into his bright golden orbs and replied:

“I’m breathing.”

“What?”

“You told me to breathe!”

“That’s the name of the song: Breathe…Faith Hill.”

“You know that song?! And I thought you were a tough guy.”

“I’m a tough guy…sort of…”, he looked deeply into her eyes and she slowly melted into his arms, moving to the rhythm of the song.

_In a way, I know my heart is waking up_

_As all the walls come tumbling down_

_I'm closer than I've ever felt before_

_And I know, and you know_

_There's no need for words right now_

His smell was intoxicating and she couldn’t help but wonder where this was leading to. Resting her head to his chest she completely felt at home, as ridiculous as it sounded. She only knew his first name. She had no idea where he was coming from or what his intentions were. She could only smell, that he was clearly attracted to her. When the song came to an end, Steph sighed and didn’t want to let go of him. They both looked at each other, their faces closing in, both smiling, taking a deep breath, with their mouths almost touching. It was a perfect moment, until loud guitar riffs startled them both, preventing the rendezvous of their lips.

 _Fuck! Who started AC/DC?_ Steph angrily looked around the bar and saw a small group of humans sitting at a table in the corner, giggling.

“Let them!”, Nick had caught her threatening stare towards them, “Shall we get another drink?”, he tried to distract her.

Steph nodded and they both went back to their seats at the counter.

Stu looked at them: “Last round!”

“Really? It’s only…1:30am…”, Steph complained, not ready to leave the pub, not ready to leave Nick.

“Really! And I just want to inform you, that you now need to follow the protocol…”

“What fucking protocol Stu?!”

The old bartender pulled a set of keys from under the counter and lifted them up in the air.

“Those are my keys! Give them back to me!”, Steph shouted.

“Forget it! You’ll be sleeping in the barn tonight. You’re drunk and you’re no longer able to drive. Your Dad gave me instructions, you need to follow the protocol!”

“Are you serious?!”, she couldn’t believe her ears.

“I could drive you home, if I find my keys…”, Nick patted his pockets to search for the keys of his car, “Oh fuck…my truck is at the repair shop…they didn’t call me…seems like I need to wait until tomorrow to get my keys back.”

“OK you two lovebirds, Steph you know the drill. Pillows and blankets are in the large metal trunk, behind the mower. You’ll be sleeping in the hayloft tonight. No arguing. Good night!”

“What about our drinks?”

“Sorry were closed!”, Stu smirked at them.

Steph was furious, she grabbed her purse and stormed away to the bathroom, just to return minutes later to grab Nick by his arm and to drag him along with her.

“Where are we going?!”

“Just shut up and come with me!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> music: Faith Hill - Breathe


	5. Chapter 5

The cold fresh air outside surprised both of them and Nick stopped right in his track, pulling Steph close. “I wanted to do this for the entire evening!”, he leaned his face towards her and gave her a kiss. They parted and Steph looked up at him surprised, but quickly returned him the favor, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him even closer. He wrapped his arms around her waist and it didn’t take long and both their brains were clouded by the scent of their arousal. Kissing and moaning, they stumbled across the backyard towards the large barn.

Steph had spent a few nights in there over the years, either to avoid the nagging of her parents or simply because she and her teenage friends were just too drunk to find their way home.

She kicked the creaking door open and pulled Nick inside the dark barn. They couldn’t keep their hands off each other, ready to take the ultimate step.

“Where are the blankets?”, Nick quickly asked, gasping for some air in between kissing.

“Go upstairs, I’ll get them!”, Steph climbed behind the large mower.

The sight that awaited her up in the hayloft, almost took her breath away. Nick had taken off his shirt and his broad, muscular chest reflected the soft moonlight, that shone through a small window. She bit her lip and threw the pillows and blankets on a large haystack, before walking over to Nick. She saw the large scar on his chest straight away.

“What happened to you?”, she gently stroke her fingers along the scar tissue.

“Second tour to Afghanistan. An ambush. We had no chance…”

“You’re in the army?”

“Marine corps veteran…”, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her close. “I love your smell! You smell delicious!”

“You can have a taste, if you wish…”, Steph leaned her head to the side and presented her bare neck to him.

Nick purred and started sucking her delicate skin, noticing the healed bite mark of another orc.

“You can bite me if you want…”, she tried to make sure, he wouldn’t be deterred.

He smiled and with a deep guttural growl, he sank his teeth into her. Steph started groaning out of pleasure, squirming around under his firm grip. The smell of her own blood got her even more excited.

They helped each other out of their clothes and laid down onto their makeshift bed. Their naked bodies crushed into each other, passionately kissing. Nick caressed the bruise on her neck and she started to massage his large blue and beige mottled cock.

“I got the last two orc size condoms out of the vending machine…”, Steph proudly announced with a grin, “Do you want to use them?”

Nicks eyes went dark and he pulled her on top of him: “There’s nothing I desire more, than filling your sweet pussy tonight!”

Steph leaned down to him and gave him a soft kiss to his lips, then slowly continued kissing down his torso, towards his throbbing member.

She quickly leaned down to her purse on the floor, to retrieve the two wrappers and then returned her attention to his dick.

“Strawberry or honey melon?”

“I don’t care in what order you’re going to open them…”

“Ahhh…someone’s greedy already!”, she chuckled, then carefully ripped one of them open to roll the condom down his large member, all the way to the base.

Nick had his head propped up on his arms and marveled over her soft, but strong body, watching her taking care of his friend.

“Do you want me on top? Or do you prefer it missionary style?”

Nick growled and sat up to meet her face: “What do you prefer?”

Steph giggled and pushed him onto his back and aligned her wet folds with his beautiful cock. She leaned forward to kiss his nose and then slowly sank down on him. Nick grabbed her waist and guided her. Once she had taken him all in, Steph sat upright and leaned herself back, slowly grinding his base. He filled her all the way up and hit her in all the important spots.

They gradually increased their pace and Steph had to lean forward to gain more leverage to resist his heavy thrusts. They grabbed each other’s hands, fingers intertwining, passionately kissing. The sheer force he was able to use to work her clenching cunt almost took her breath away. Both their hearts were racing, endorphins rushing through their bodies, clouding their brains. Their loud moans filled the clear night sky, not caring if anybody could listen to their lustful encounter.

Bolts of lightning, little bursts of electricity made their eyes flicker, colors dancing on the inside of their closed eyelids. Their sweating bodies were crushing into each other, desperately working towards their biggest reward.

Nick’s heavy thrusts became slower and Steph started to feel his cock twitching inside of her. She pushed herself against his base, and rode him even harder. Her swollen, pulsating clit announced her climax, and with his member still pumping inside of her, her pussy started to clench, milking him completely.

Steph sank down on his chest, he gently kissed the top of her head, before he pulled out his limping dick and got rid of the used sheath.

“Tell me when you’re ready for round number two!”, Steph announced with a grin.

“We don’t need a condom for round number two!”, Nick turned her onto her back and started to caress her belly button with his tongue. It tickled and Steph started squirming. He quickly pushed her legs apart and pinned them down with his hands.

“I want to taste your pussy…”, he groaned and started sucking her clit. Small bursts of energy spread from her nether region into her entire body and she started to shiver. He continued licking along her folds, and the sensation of his hot breath made her insane. Nick looked up to Steph and their eyes met. His ears started twitching and her eyelids fluttered. She never thought that a tongue entering her cunt could evoke these type of feelings. Apparently all the other men before Nick had no idea what they were doing down there. Her legs started jerking and Nick knew, that she was about to come. He looked up again and watched Steph’s face wincing out of pleasure. She somehow sensed him watching her and opened her eyes, just to be overwhelmed by the amazing, tickling sensation.

Nick came up to kiss her, when she grabbed his right hand and guided his fingers to her folds. Nick knew exactly what she was up to and entered her with his middle and ring finger. His oral skills were amazing and her clitoral orgasm had been great, but she still had the urge for her vagina to clench once more. He instantly found her spot and started rubbing it with the tip of his fingers, while they were playing with each other’s tongues. It only took a few seconds for her to reach another climax, but this time Nick took his time, slowly retrieving his fingers from her pulsating, wet pussy.

“Where did you learn all this stuff?!”, Steph panted.

“Lots of practice…”, he grinned and pulled one of the blankets on top of them. She snuggled her body close to his and rested her head on his shoulder.

“What number am I?”

“You don’t want to know…besides you seem to have lots of practice yourself!”, he looked at Steph, raising a brow.

“True…”, she giggled and pulled herself even closer to him.

They stayed like that for some time and Steph found herself wondering, why this one-night-stand no longer felt like one.


	6. Chapter 6

Something was itchy, Steph slowly opened her heavy eyelids and found herself in Stu’s hay barn. Her head was buzzing and she tried to remember how many drinks she had. Discovering the good looking naked orc besides her, sent a brief smile on her face. She was sore and desperately wanted to take a shower. _Fuck! What time is it?_ Steph checked her phone and realized, that she had to catch her flight in less than five hours. Nick started humming and rolled around and she quickly took the chance to get up. Steph gathered her clothes, got dressed and threw a last glimpse over to Nick, before she climbed down the ladder.

Stu was already wide awake, when Steph stumbled into the pub.

“My keys! I need my keys!

“Good morning missy! You mean your Dad’s keys…”

“Ahh…whatever!”, she grabbed the bunch, which Stu presented to her.

“Won’t you stay for a quick breakfast?”

“Sorry Stu, I need to go!”

“What about your toy-boy in my barn?”

“Still sleeping! Love you Stu! Bye!”

“You still owe me your tab from last night!”

“I’ll give the money to Dad!” and through the door she went.

Steph hurried back to the ranch, where her Dad was greeting her in front of the stables.

“It’s about time! I wanted to pick up some supplies in Cheyenne, before I’ll drive you to the airport!”

“Sorry I’m late! I’m taking a quick shower and pack up my stuff!”, Steph ran towards the entrance of the house.

“I hope he was worth it!”, he shouted behind his daughter, shaking his head.

She had heard his snarky comment and grinned to herself: _Oh, he certainly was worth it!_

“I was hoping you’d stay a bit longer!”, her Dad complained.

“Dad, I told you this training course is really important for my career!”

“What about your dream of becoming a horse therapist? You can’t be the 49ers sex mascot for the rest of your life.”

“Dad?! What the fuck!”, Steph was shocked upon her father’s comment.

“You know, that back in my days women like you were called a slut?!”, his tone now patronizing his adult daughter.

“Yeah, right…am I supposed to live a boring housewife life just like Mom?!”

“Leave your Mom out of this!!”, his face turned angry.

“Dad, it’s too late for me to marry my High School sweetheart!”

“Munchkin, I just want you to be happy!”

“Dad, I am happy! See!”, she presented her father a forced smile.

“You’re old enough Steph, but…please…always be honest to yourself! Alright?! Now…go get your flight! I love you!”

“I love you too!” She gave her Dad a quick kiss to his cheek, before climbing out of the truck.

With her bag in her hand, Steph turned around one last time, before passing security, watching her Dad driving off.

_Why does it feel so hard to leave home this time?!_

She headed to one of the shops to get a bottle of water, before she sat down to wait for her boarding to start.

_"How does it feel being the most desired rodeo rider of the nation?”_

Steph overheard an live interview, which was airing on TV, while she was flipping through a magazine. Her ears started twitching, upon hearing his voice. She looked up to the large screen and there he was, larger than life: Nicholas Jakoby, current bareback riding world champion. She couldn’t believe, what she was seeing, but the butterflies in her tummy made it very clear: It was him!

Steph couldn’t let her eyes off the screen and tried to follow the interview. She found herself staring at his filed down tusks and the smitten smile on his face, when the reporter asked him to come along to greet some fans.

_It was just an one-night-stand! It was only an one-night stand!_ She repeated to herself over and over again, while she was forced to board her plane back to San Francisco. But she couldn’t help it, her thoughts were constantly circling around Nick. His marvelous body. The golden eyes. His delicious smell. The amazing sex they had.


	7. Chapter 7

“Hey, aren’t you supposed to go to that physio…rehab…convention…conference thing?!” Tina’s voice ripped Steph out of her dreams.

“What time is it?!”, she sleepily groaned.

“In my universe it’s 8:30am and I need to go to work, not sure in what time zone you’re currently in…”, Steph’s roommate said with a curious undertone.

“I still have another hour before I have to be in Mission Bay…”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have watched all those cowboy videos on YouTube last night…”

“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about…MOM!”, Steph yawned.

“You can’t fool your watch history, bitch!”, the orc girl giggled, while rising her brow.

“Hey! I told you to log off my account, I can’t stand your stupid fitness videos popping up in my recommendations!”

“Alright, alright…I’ll log out…soooo…who’s Nicholas Jakoby?!”, Tina smirked.

Steph blushed: “Nobody…”

“Right…nobody…", Tina turned around and walked away, "You’ve got until tonight to get your story straight!", she called around the corner, "Need to go! Bye.”

"Bye...", Steph sighed and got up from her bed.

\---------------------------

_What a waste of time!_ Steph thought to herself, when she left the convention center and walked to her car. She clearly could have spent more time back in Wyoming, close to her Dad and close to Nick, but instead she wasted 7 hours in way too small and sticky conference rooms. There was nothing really new she had learned that day and she therefore was in a really bad mood. Under other circumstances she would have called one of her “players” to get some distraction, but today she just wanted to get back home. Steph picked up some take-away and waited for her roommate to return from work, still owing her an explanation for the rodeo binge watching.

“Holy moly!”, Tina’s mouth was wide agape, while watching the video of Nick’s famous 8 seconds, which had made him top of the world.

Steph had tried her best to explain the rules of Bronc Riding to her and found herself reminiscing of her own teenage years, how much she’d loved to go to those events with her Dad, how much she’d loved the distinctive smell of hay and horse shit.

“And you’ve slept with that hottie?!”, Tina asked her friend, after the video had ended.

“Yeah…”, Steph responded timidly.

“Wasn’t it good?! Either way he surely had an impact on you, didn’t he?”

“It was…different…”, she couldn't find the right words to describe the turmoil, that was going on in her head.

“OK, more details please…don’t disappoint me!”, Tina nudged her roommate.

Steph hesitated first, but then fully opened herself up to her friend. How she was overwhelmed by his aura, how amazing the sex had been and how confused she was about the weird feelings afterwards.

“I’d never thought I’d have to tell you this…but you’re having a crush on that guy!”

“I’m not like one of those naïve girls falling in love with someone famous…”, Steph tried to defend herself.

“But you had no idea who he was…”

“Be realistic…I'll most likely never see him again…”

“Really?…that’s the biggest bullshit I’ve ever heard out of your mouth sister! You’re always taking your fate into your own hands. Why not this time?!”

“T…I was probably one out of many over that weekend. I know how many groupies are lurking around those rodeos…”, Steph was saddened by her own words, because she was convinced that Nick had already forgotten about her.

“Why don’t we clear our ice cream stock? Seems like a perfect night for binge watching Netflix and some serious sugar overload!”

“Perfect! I’ll get the spoons.”


	8. Chapter 8

Daryl instantly recognized the creases on the orc’s forehead.

“Something is bothering you! Wanna tell me?”

“I just had a rough weekend!”, Nick sighed and sat down on his friends porch. Daryl called for his daughter Sophia to get them two root beers and the quirky girl with beautiful curly hair joined the two men.

“Did you win another trophy, Nick?”, the curious 5th grader wanted to know.

“No rock star, it wasn’t a competition. I was taking part in a fundraiser rodeo over the weekend. The WRA is currently raising money for a sanctuary, where old horses can spend their retirement.”

“That sounds nice! When I’m old enough I want to become a wrangler just like you and Dad!”

“I told you Sophia, this is no girls sport!”, her Dad tried to intervene, “…why don’t you want to become a doctor, just like your Mom?”

“Because I love horses and you always tell me, that I can be whatever I want to be! ‘Never let others define your limits!’ ”

“That’s actually a pretty good advice you’ve given her!”, Nick turned towards Daryl and grinned.

“Great! I always thought you were on my side…”

“I am on your side: Never let others define your limits!”, the orc chuckled.

Daryl Ward and his wife Sherri had a small farm close to Casper, Wyoming’s second largest city. They owned a small herd of cows, but more as a hobby, since Dr. Sherri Ward contributed the main part of their income as one of the leading surgeons at the Wyoming Medical Center, ultimately giving her husband the chance to pursue his dream of being a professional wrangler.

Nick had met Daryl at Camp Lejeune, before they both had been sent to Afghanistan shortly after 9/11. The young orc had a rocky start with the Marines, but soon found a loyal friend in Daryl, who actually saved his life after an ambush by the Taliban on their second tour to the war-ridden country.

Sharing the same passion for rodeos brought them even closer to each other, although they lived over 3h apart. They had been touring the country together for the last years during rodeo season and Daryl ultimately helped Nick to make it into the top five bareback riders. Daryl always jokingly stated, that Nick winning the world championship was pure luck, but he knew first hand, how hard Nick had worked towards that title.

“Sweetie, could you please help Mom with the groceries?”, Daryl lured Sophia away to help Sherri, who had just returned back home from work, with her trunk full of bags.

Nick was about to jump up to help as well, but his friend grabbed his arm and held him back: “Just gimme a quick update about your Dad…I didn’t want to ask in front of Sophia…did you find him?”

Nick gave away a shy smile and replied: “I’m definitely on the right track…but still not 100% sure…I’ll get back to Laramie in about a month…maybe earlier…”

“So what did you do for the entire weekend? The charity event was only on Sunday…”

“My truck broke down and I ended up in that bar…”

“And?!”

“I met someone…”

“Yeah sure, mister heartbreaker on tour!”

“It was different Daryl…”

“Different like Jo? Or Becky or…what was the name of that freak, who followed you interstate?!”

Nick insecurely started fumbling with his Stetson and looked down to his boots: “It was different…like…I don’t know!”

“YOU don’t know? So, when do you see her again?”

“Never…I guess…”

“Why?! Were you too shy to ask for her number?”, Daryl couldn’t help but chuckle.

“She left in the morning without a goodbye…”

“Interesting….! Just out of curiosity Nick….how does it feel being dropped like a hot potato?”

“You’re an ass!”

“Watch your language!”, Sherri scolded Nick, when she walked up to the porch of their house, carrying several bags of groceries.

“Sorry Mam!”, Nick jumped up and took the bags out of her hands.

“Great! Now I need to help as well, asshole!”, Daryl slowly got up from his rocking chair.

“Dad! That’s five bucks for the swear jar!”, Sophia berated her father.

“Nick, do you stay for dinner?”, Sherri wanted to know once they reached the kitchen.

“I was hoping I could stay for the night…”, the orc responded with a cheeky smile, “Daryl told me about his moonshine…”

“You know you’re jeopardizing your life, Nick?!”, Sherri glanced at him with a smile upon her lips.

“I’m already having one foot in my grave anyway…no risk no fun!”, Nick grinned back at her.

“Well…you know where the guest room is!”


	9. Chapter 9

She didn’t expect to hear from her Dad that soon. And she certainly didn’t expect the topic he wanted to discuss with her over the phone.  
With her Mom getting sick, there were many things, that were more important to Steph’s Dad, than checking the family’s finances, of which her Mom had been taking care of, like as long as Steph was able to remember. Her Mom had been not only the heart and soul of the ranch, but also a passionate accountant, who had given up her day-to-day job with the local tax consultant to pursue her dream in running a guest house for horse lovers. Back in those days it wasn’t easy for orcs to not only run an entire farm on their own, but also to be successful in the hospitality industry. Orcs had been fighting hard to enjoy equal rights with elves and humans, but were still disadvantaged in many professions. And given their social status, they never really were the top choice, when humans and rich elves had the chance to choose between a human or elvish run business and an orc one. It was just over the last 20 years, that especially in those rural areas the prejudices slowly disappeared. The fact, that Orcs and their sophisticated senses were made for a life in close touch to nature, made it very easy for them to adapt to the forces of the harsh surroundings. Orcs had been working as wranglers and cowboys for over a century because of these reasons and Steph’s parents just wanted to take it a step further.

“I’m having an appointment with the bank next Wednesday.”  
“Dad, you can’t sell the ranch!”, Steph didn’t know, if she was angry or sad about her father’s decision.  
“Munchkin! Do you have any idea how high all the medical bills are?! Not to mention the funeral costs! All our savings are gone and I don’t know how else I would be able to buy food for myself.” His tone was desperate.  
“I could help you! I’ve saved some money…”, she tried to intervene.  
“Don’t be ridiculous…unless you’ve won the lottery, there is no way you’re able to pay off my debt.”  
“But Dad…”  
“Munchkin…I love you and I appreciate your offer, but I don’t want you to get yourself into something, that is no longer worth fighting for!”   
“Don’t say something like that Dad! This is our farm, this is my home…”  
“Steph…you decided to move away and to fulfill your dreams elsewhere…you abandoned your childhood dream and found your place in the city. My decision is made and if my calculus skills are still worth something, there might be some money left for you to finally get your own place.”  
“Dad, please…”  
“I’m sorry, munchkin! I love you…I’ll talk to you once the bill of sale is signed. Take care! Love you! Bye.”  
“No, Dad!”, she tried to object, but her father had already hung up.

This can’t be it! Steph was desperate. She couldn’t accept her father’s decision, not in a million years! She had to come up with a bold plan, to safe the family ranch.

> _“Steph? Would you help me with my tape?!”_  
>  _“You’re wrangling for how many years now? How did you ever manage to tape your wrist without me?!”, she grinned at Nick while approaching him._  
>  _“I just want my lucky charm around…besides you’re my personal physio…”, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to give her nose a gentle kiss. She wriggled herself free, but he presented his left hand and flashed his filed tusks at her, with a begging look in his bright, golden eyes._  
>  _“OK…Give me the tape!”, she pretended to be annoyed._  
>  _It was a shame to cover those delicate skin patterns on the back of his hands with white sports tape. Stroking her fingers along his lower arm, his breathing got heavier. She wrapped smaller pieces of tape tightly around his wrist and thumb, to stabilize the joints, to prevent straining. Steph smiled at Nick and gave him a gentle kiss to his cheek, once her work was done._  
>  _“You gonna watch me taming that beast?”, Nick looked towards the trailer behind his truck, where a beautiful bronco waited to be released._  
>  _“I need to prepare the rooms for the new guests arriving this afternoon. But I’ll be willing to tame your beast tonight…”, Steph gave Nick a seductive glance._  
>  _“Is that a promise?!”, he purred back at her, while walking towards the trailer._  
>  _“Whatever you want it to be…”, she blew him a kiss and went inside._

Steph woke up and sat straight up in her bed. She’s had that dream before, but this time it finally made complete sense to her! Her subconscious mind had already made the decision and she now just needed to detail her plan, before taking the necessary steps to a happy future. Hopefully with a certain orc at her side.


	10. Chapter 10

An annoying ringtone woke Nick up. He yawned, scratched his head and stared at the display of his phone. _Unknown number._ He decided to not answer and put the phone back onto the bedside table. He turned around, snuggled into the sheets and was just about to go back to sleep, when his phone went off again.

“Argghhh…for Jirak’s sake!” He turned around, grabbed his phone and answered with an annoyed undertone: “Hello?!”

“Is…is this… Mister Jakoby? Mister… Nicholas Jakoby?”, the shaky voice of an old lady asked.

Nick cleared his throat: “Ahem…yes…who is this?”

“Oh excuse my manners Sir, I’m Fiona Miller, we spoke last week about your mother, about Selma.”

“Yes! Mrs. Miller!”, Nick sat straight up in his bed.

“I finally found my old yearbook and I might know, who your father is!”

Nick held his breath. He had been waiting for this moment for as long as he was able to remember. His heart was beating heavily against his ribs and both his ears started twitching.

Mrs. Miller invited him back to Laramie and Nick had promised to return the following week and pay her a visit. He initially had planned to not return to his mother’s place of birth, before he had signed the sponsoring contracts for the upcoming rodeo season, but something deep inside of him urged him to go back and close that chapter.

His mother had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, when she was killed in a car accident almost 3 months ago. Nick never got the chance to say goodbye to her.

The relationship to his mother had been very close, since she had raised him on her own. She fell pregnant right after graduating from High School and had always told her son that his father abandoned them and that he had moved to the East Coast, to go to college. Too far away for a young orc, who grew up in Rock Springs, WY in the middle of nowhere. His father was literally out of Nick’s world and he somehow was OK with it.

But when Nick went through his mother’s belongings after her death, he found his original birth certificate, stating that his father was unknown. Why didn’t she give his name, when she knew who his father was? Why on earth would she lie to him about the whereabouts of his father? He got suspicious and when he found old love letters from her High School sweetheart, he knew that there was a different side of the story. Unfortunately the letters were only signed with Bear, a nickname, which his Mom most likely had gotten for her boyfriend. No envelopes were left, so he had no chance to find out more about the sender. He only knew, that his mother was born and raised in Laramie, but moved away with her parents straight after High School. Maybe he had been the reason…

When he won the world championship and got invited to a fundraising event in Laramie, Nick instantly understood that as a sign. He wasn’t superstitious in general, but after his death experience in Afghanistan, he was convinced, that there were certain supernatural forces leading him through his life.

\----------------------------------

Tina couldn’t understand, why Steph was so excited about moving back to Wyoming. On one hand she wished her all the best for her new life, but on the other hand she just couldn’t grasp the idea, why someone voluntarily would change a big city career to a boring country life. But there was one thing she knew for sure, that Steph wasn’t easily deterred from her plans, that you could count on her, whatever she had planned or promised to someone.

“Are you sure you want to leave your furniture?”, Tina stood in the doorframe and watched Steph, while she was packing up.

“I won’t need them T!”

“Why are you so sure, that your Dad won’t sell the ranch anyway?!”

“I told Richard about my plan of re-opening the guest house and offering horse therapy. He loved the idea and helped me setting up a business plan to apply for a credit.”

“Who the hell is Richard?”, Tina crossed her arms and tilted her head.

“My Dad’s bank manager…we went to school together”, Steph replied without looking up to her roommate, who couldn’t help but laugh: “Is there anybody in Wyoming, you don’t know?”

Steph looked up with a smile on her face: “You can come visit me anytime to find out!”


	11. Chapter 11

The look on the old orc’s face was priceless, when he saw his daughter sitting in the office of his bank manager.

“Ah Bruce! Come on in…”, Richard smiled, “…grab a chair.”

“Hi Dad!”, Steph cheered.

“What are you doing here, munchkin?!” Her father was completely caught off guard.

“Maybe you shouldn’t call her munchkin any longer”, Richard grinned at the old orc.

“Ahem…excuse me?!”, Steph’s Dad was still confused about her unforeseen presence.

“Well, your daughter has an interesting business model she wants to propose to you.”

Bruce looked at Steph, who just slowly nodded her head and sat down next to her.

“But we’re here to set up the sale of my ranch…”, he addressed the bank manager.

“Dad, I don’t want you to sell the ranch…”

“We talked about this Steph…”

“Maybe you should listen to her first, Bruce”, Richard kindly interfered while placing a folder on the table in front of them.

POPE SPRINGS EQUINE THERAPY

\- Business Plan -

“What is this?!”, Bruce was confused and grabbed the folder to open it.

Steph turned towards him: “Dad…you and Mom always wanted me to pursue my dreams…my visit two weeks ago showed me, that there are certain things in life that are more important and I came to the conclusion, that now is the time to become an responsible adult.”

“But I, we need the money!”

“This is where I come into play…”, Richard crossed his arms in front of him and leaned over his desk, “Your clever daughter and I worked out a business plan and I already checked, if you could apply for a DBA loan. You’ll only need to register the new business and apply for your EIN number. Sign a few papers and you’re good to go. You don’t need to invest much, since you’re already a Certified Guest Service Property and you already have your horses.”

“And you already have a horse loving physiotherapist!”, Steph smiled at her Dad.

“But…what about your job in San Francisco?! Did you quit?”

“No, I’m furloughed for the next season…and then we’ll see…”

Steph’s Dad leaned back into his chair and flipped through the business plan folder: “Richard, are you sure this could work out?”

“As long as you two get along with each other…”

Bruce put the folder back on the desk, looked at his daughter and grabbed her hand: “Steph, are you sure you want to trade in your city life with your grumpy old father?”

“Yes Dad! I am sure about it! Now, let’s sign those papers!”

They looked at each other and a grateful smile appeared on his face:

“Alright, Richard…it’s your turn!”

Father and daughter went for lunch together after their successful bank appointment and headed back to the ranch, stopping at the gas station. Steph went inside to pay for the gas, when she suddenly felt a funny feeling to her chest, as if her heart was skipping a beat. She shook it off though, got herself a coffee to-go and went for the exit. The door unexpectedly opened and she walked straight into a tall orc, spilling her coffee all over them. Both were startled and their hearts started racing, because of the unexpected sight of each other. His scent went straight into her nose and resulted in her brain to shut down.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t want to hurt you! I’ll get you a new one!”, Nick got down to pick up the paper cup.

“It was all my fault…OK…hi…no you don’t need to…”, Steph stuttered.

“Are you sure?! I’ll help you clean yourself up!”, Nick had a really bad conscience and went to grab some napkins.

Steph just stood next to the door and looked after him, not knowing what to say to him upon his return.

“There you go…”, the handsome orc presented Steph the napkins to clean herself and got down on the floor and started to wipe away the mess they had caused. A store clerk came to the rescue and took over.

“Are you sure you don’t want another coffee?”, Nick pulled her over to the side and curiously looked at Steph, who just stared at him, like a deer in headlights.

“I…I…”, Nick suddenly became insecure. His brain was overwhelmed by all sorts of feelings. He had hoped to run into Steph, when he arrived in Laramie in the early morning hours to meet with Mrs. Miller, his mother’s old friend, but he knew his chances were rather slim. Stu had told him, that his one-night-stand had been to Laramie only for a brief visit, but apparently his wish to see her again had fulfilled itself.

Steph cleared her throat and Nick looked up to her.

“I’m sorry, I need to go…my Dad is waiting outside”, she said with a sad tone in her voice.

“Wait…”, Nick reached his hand towards her, “…do I see you again?!”

Her face brightened: “If you want to…”

“As a matter of fact…”, Nick straightened his posture, “I really do want to see you again!” He smiled and presented his filed down tusks to her: “I still owe you a breakfast!”

“I’m so sorry I just left you the other day, but I had to catch a flight!”, Steph felt guilty.

“That’s alright…”, he fumbled with his Stetson on his head and Steph plucked up all her courage and asked:

“So…should we exchange numbers then?”

“Yes. Yes! Hold on a sec…I never remember my number…”, he searched for his phone, visibly excited.

Steph prompted him her number and he instantly called, for her to receive his.

“How long are you here for this time?”, Nick asked.

“Only two days, but I’m actually about to move back to Laramie soon.”

“I might be spending more time around here in the future as well…”, he gave away an irresistible smile, which made her cheeks blush.

“OK Nick…nice running into you…fuck that didn’t sound right…but I… I really need to go.”

Nick just chuckled: “It’s my pleasure! I’ll call you!”

He scratched the back of his head, while watching her walking towards a large pick-up truck and climbing into the passenger seat. His ears were twitching out of excitement. _Seems like it was a good idea to come here today,_ he smiled to himself.

“Do I know that orc?“, her father wanted to know, driving out onto the street. Steph looked into the rear mirror to watch Nick walking towards his car: “No, he is not from around here…”


	12. Chapter 12

Steph had to return to San Francisco one last time to get her belongings.

Her close friends had come along to say goodbye and everybody promised to visit her in Wyoming. Tina shed a tear or two and hugged her former roommate for the last time.

When Steph drove off in her U-Haul rental van, she didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. The last week had been an emotional rollercoaster. Nick had called her the night they had met at the gas station. They could talk for hours over the phone, they completely felt at ease with each other. Their one-night-stand had been an awkward topic, but they both found it amusing enough to no longer worry about the emotional aftermath. Steph had opened up about her feelings for him and was happy to discover, that she had left the same impression on Nick. With her move back home and Nick preparing for the new rodeo season with his sponsoring partners, both were distracted enough to not worry too much about their first proper date.

Steph knew, she would be on the road for at least 3 days, driving all the way back home to Wyoming. And when she had told Nick, that she was planning to stay in Salt Lake City for the second night, he immediately knew, where to meet for a date without nosy neighbors around. Nick had been to Utah for a few days, to negotiate with sponsors and since he didn’t know, when he would be able to return to Laramie, he managed to set up a romantic dinner date.

They met in front of a motel. Nick was already waiting, when Steph pulled up in front of the one-story building. Her heart started racing upon seeing him and it seemed to her, that the male orc was as excited as she was.

“Hi!”, she was beaming at him.

“Hey! How was your drive?”

“Traffic was OK, but I’m just so damn tired. Nevada is one hell of a boring state!”

“There are nice corners in the desert though”, Nick smiled back at her.

“Sorry, I prefer the monumental landscape of Wyoming, sand belongs to the beach”, she started to giggle.

“You haven’t been to the Valley of fire then! This is nature’s artwork in perfection! You’ll definitely have to go there someday!”

“Would you be coming along? You could show me around! If…if you want to stick around…”

Nick took a deep breath and soaked in her mesmerizing scent, then gently grabbed her by the wrist, pulled her close, looked her deep into her brown eyes and whispered: “I have this gut feeling, that you won’t get rid of me anytime soon…”

Her breathing got heavier and the sparkle in his golden eyes made her smile. Their faces closed in on each other and they kissed. A cold shiver overcame his body, followed by a warm and fuzzy feeling spreading from deep inside his core. The kiss was different to everything she ever experienced. His filed tusks scraped along her soft lips and she thoroughly enjoyed the sensation. She wrapped her hands around the back of his neck and pushed herself even closer, with Nick holding her tight just below her waist. They both startled when Nick’s phone started to vibrate in the left front pocket of his jeans.

Their lips parted and Steph had to chuckle: “Do you get that call?”

Nick pulled his phone out, looked at the screen and apologized: “Damn Daryl! Sorry I need to get this!”

Steph watched him walking a few feet away and caught herself staring at his ass, wondering how this perfectly shaped body would look like in chaps. She was busy daydreaming and couldn’t quite follow the conversation he had with his friend. Not that she was interested in it anyway. She only could think of all the sexual bliss that might happen tonight, after their dinner date. Steph signaled Nick, that she would quickly go to the reception to check in and he just nodded back at her.

Nick had ended the phone call, when she returned back outside and went towards her rental to get her bag. He looked concerned and the wrinkles on his forehead indicated, that this call hadn’t been a pleasant one.

“Everything alright?”, Steph asked.

“Sort of…I’ll tell you about it later…shall we get going?”

“I just want to drop off my bag, I’ll be right back…”

Nick watched her walking towards her room and wondered, if Steph would invite him inside later tonight. Their previous sexual encounter clearly had left an impression and he really wanted to take it a step further, hoping that Steph felt the same about a possible relationship.


	13. Chapter 13

“Where are we going?”, Steph asked curiously, because they had left the busier roads behind and were heading south towards Grindstone Ridge.

“One of my sponsors invited me last minute to an event down in Mapleton. First I thought of cancelling, but they sort of insisted I’d come. I didn’t want to cancel the date with you, so I asked them, if I could bring you along. Are you OK with that?” Nick turned towards Steph and she could see it in his eyes, that he was no longer so sure, if this had been the right decision.

“If I said no, would you drive me back to my motel?”, she tried to tease him, holding back a grin. Nick’s right ear twitched and beads of sweat appeared above his brows.

He searched for eye contact: “I’m sorry! This was a bad idea…you probably expected something more…intimate?”

Nick was obviously uncomfortable and Steph found it kind of cute, but didn’t want to stress him too much:

“Relax! I’m perfectly fine with that. I assume they have plenty of free food?”

Nick felt a great deal of relieve and replied with a smile: “And they have free drinks. Plus, a live band!”

“Sounds like I have to dance with you tonight…”

“I thought you’d enjoyed our little dance the last time…”

“I did! But tonight I might need some faster music to not fall asleep in your arms!”

“I’ll carry you back to my car and straight to your room at the motel, if that happens.”

“Is this a threat or a promise?”

“Promise!”, he grinned.

Nick pulled into the parking lot in front of the romantic little farm building.

“Quiet Meadow Farm…”, Steph read on a large wooden sign, “…this must be looking really cute during daytime!”

It was already dark outside and you could hear the sounds of the night creatures going after their business. Loud music echoed from inside the farm towards them and the closer they walked to the front door, the more delicious the food smelled. A tall, dark skinned human stood next to the door and waved at them: “Hey Nick! I really thought you’d be skipping tonight!”

“I told you I need to pick up Steph first!”, the orc replied annoyed.

“Ah…you must be the future Miss Jakoby!”, the human cheekily grinned at Steph.

“Shut the fuck up Daryl!”, Nick was visibly uncomfortable upon his friend’s comment.

The human extended his hand towards Steph, “Hi, I’m Daryl. Daryl Ward. I’m the one who sweeps up after this lousy wrangler.”

“The last time I checked Nick was the current World Champion…”, Steph grinned back at Daryl, who just nudged Nick and said: “I love her already!”

The three of them went inside and Daryl showed them around. Nick had to greet his sponsors and some of the apparently important guests and introduced Steph to them. The fact, that he introduced her as his girlfriend made Steph’s heart bounce heavily against her ribs and she floated towards the beautifully arranged buffet.

“I don’t even know where to start?”, Steph whispered to Nick, who shoveled some slow roast chicken on his plate.

“Just go for the stuff that waters your mouth the most”, Nick tried to be helpful.

“I don’t think you’ll fit on my plate…”, Steph noted cheekily.

Nick almost choked on a piece of garlic bread, he was chewing and Steph had to pat him on his back, to help him catch his breath again. She gave him a gentle kiss to his cheek and went for the table, where Daryl was already sitting above his fully loaded plate.

“You don’t have to sit with me…It’s your date night!”, Daryl tried to clear things up.

“Nick, is it OK for you, if we sit with Daryl?”, she turned around to address the orc, who followed close behind.

“If you’re OK with it…I mean…this should have been our date night…”, Nick put his plate on the table and pulled a chair close.

“I guess, we’ll have enough time to ourselves once we’re back at the motel”, Steph seductively purred.

This time it was Daryl, who almost choked on a chicken wing.

They talked about all sorts of things over dinner. Steph found Daryl to be the funniest human, she had ever met and she loved the way, both these men were talking about each other, almost in a praising way.

Nick held his belly, after his fifth visit to the buffet and Daryl also made the impression of being overfed. But Steph had just enough sugary desserts to be all revved up, and when the band announced one of her favorite line dance songs, she was no longer able to hold her feet still:

“Nick, you promised me to dance with me…come on!”

“I promised you to carry you back to the car and to your room at the motel…”, Nick was clearly not in the mood for dancing.

“This is my favorite song! Please Nick! Pleeeaaase!”, she tilted her head and pursed her lips at him.

“If you won’t dance, I’ll dance with her…”, Daryl took the chance and threatened his friend.

Nick couldn’t let that happen and stood up from his chair: “I got this Daryl…go find someone else to harass!”

But Daryl just grinned and leaned back into his chair, crossing his arms in satisfaction: “I never thought you’re that jealous!”

“I’m not jealous!”, Nick tried to shrug it off, but deep inside he knew, that Daryl was right. No one besides him was dancing with HIS girl!

Steph was already on the dance floor and tried to follow the callers instructions:

“Left heel cross, shuffle left-right-left;

Right heel cross, shuffle right-left-right”

Nick joined her, having some issues first, but then quickly adapted and both just swirled around the floor laughing, between all the other dancers.

Both were out of breath, when the song had ended and they were about to return to their table. But the first tunes of the much slower song that followed, kept them on their feet.

“Breathe!”, Steph smiled and pulled Nick close, “…do you remember?”

“How could I not remember that night!”, he started to nuzzle her neck. Steph pulled herself close to Nick’s chest and sighed.

They both forgot everything around them, dancing to the soft instrumental version of the Faith Hill song, scenting each other, wishing for that song to never end.

But the unavoidable soon followed and both smiled, before closing in on each other to kiss, just as they wanted it the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Steph's favorite line dance song:  
> Sin Wagon - The Chicks


	14. Chapter 14

It was way after midnight, when Nick and Steph left the Quiet Meadow Farm and drove back north to Salt Lake City. He had told her about the phone call from Daryl earlier this evening and explained, that one of his sponsors wanted to cancel their contract for the upcoming season and that the event they just had left, had been a very important one.

“You still haven’t told me, what you’re doing in Laramie all the time. Is there another sponsor of yours?”, Steph slightly changed the topic.

“Well…I was searching for my biological father…my Mom raised me on her own with the help of my grandparents”, he replied with a quick glance towards Steph.

“OK…And did you find him?”

“Yes and no…” Steph was puzzled by his reply and he quickly added: “I got his name…but I haven’t met him yet.”

“Ahh…understand…what’s his name? Do you know where to find him? I might know him”, Steph was curious and wanted to be helpful.

Nick turned towards the passenger seat and explained: “It doesn’t feel right to tell you…yet.“ Steph looked a bit irritated and Nick continued: “…please don’t get me wrong…but he doesn’t know about me and I want to talk to him first. I hope you understand!”

“That’s OK…I understand…“, she paused, „I can’t imagine my life not knowing about my Dad…I mean there were times, when I wasn’t interested in talking to my parents…they kinda disliked my lifestyle. But I had to learn the hard way, what it means to never being able to talk to my Mom again…”, Steph eyes became watery and she had to swallow.

“Are you OK?”, Nick put his right hand on her knee. She put her hand on top of his, nodded her head and smiled at Nick.

When Nick pulled up in front of the motel, Steph was able to smell Nick’s insecurity. She felt quite nervous herself and decided to drop THE question, that had been floating mid-air for the entire evening: “Are you going to stay for the night?”

Nick had been hoping Steph would invite him inside, but he wasn’t expecting her to want him to stay overnight.

“Are you sure about that?”, he tried to make sure, that she really was OK with it.

“Oh come on…we’ve spent a night together…and I promise this time we’ll be having breakfast together”, she grinned at him.

Hearing those words made him felt at ease and he parked his car next to Steph’s rental van.

The room was old fashioned, the stereotypical Midwest motel style with dull colors and worn down furniture, but it was clean. The huge king sized bed was almost filling up the entire space, only giving way to the small bathroom in the back. A small TV was mounted to the wall and a kettle was sitting on top of a small chest of drawers.

Steph let herself fall back onto to soft mattress and yawned. The long drive during the day and the long evening at the sponsoring event had their effects on her. Nick quickly excused himself to the bathroom to freshen up. But when he returned, anticipating an intimate encounter, he only found a peacefully sleeping female orc. He had to grin and sat next to Steph, gently stroking her temple. She looked very content, her breathing slow and steady. Nick took off her shoes and some of her clothes, before covering her with the sheets. He quickly checked his emails, sent a message to Daryl, switched off the lights and cuddled himself right next to her. She hummed upon feeling his warm body against hers, turned around and became the small spoon, pressing her ass right against Nicks member. His nostrils flared and he had to bite his lip, trying to control his urges. He wrapped his upper arm around Steph’s waist and nuzzled her neck, soaking in her lovely scent. His arousal was undeniable, but he didn’t want to rob Steph of her well-deserved sleep. He tried to concentrate on his breathing and when his grown member slowly went limp again, Nick was finally able to drift off as well.

The next morning Nick woke up to the noise of a toilet flush. He patted the other side of the bed and concluded, that Steph was already up. He pretended to be fast asleep, when she returned from the bathroom and laid back next to him. Nick could literally feel, that Steph was watching him. He slowly opened his eyes and when her brown orbs met his golden ones, both were overpowered by the feeling of pure happiness.

“I’m so sorry, I fell asleep last night!”, Steph was the first to find her words, while she stroke along the patterns on his lower arm.

“Don’t feel sorry! Just be thankful, that I stayed and didn’t leave”, he replied cheekily and flashed his filed tusks at her.

Steph propped herself up on her elbow, raised her brows and tilted her head: ”Thankful?!”

“I could have left and you’d have to pay for your breakfast yourself!”

Steph had to grin: “Oh thank Jirak for my brave suitor, who is willing to pay for my bacon and egg sandwich without experiencing any physical pleasure!”, she theatrically threw her head back, just to jump on top of Nick to give him a kiss.

Nick groaned and pulled her close, with only one thing in mind. Steph was able to smell his growing arousal and started to giggle. She really didn’t want to miss out on some juicy morning sex. His big, strong hands ran along her body, slowly lifting her shirt. She felt his hardened cock pressing against her and her soft folds started to tremble out of excitement, dampening her panties.

“You smell so delicious!”, Nick moaned in between kissing.

She really wanted to smell her own blood again, mixed with his musky, aroused scent and therefore presented him her bare shoulder to bite.

Nick couldn’t resist her sweet offer and sank his teeth into her. She moaned out of pleasure and was ready to open the small foil packaging, she had arranged on her bedside table. She was just about to reach for the condom, when Nick’s phone went off on the other side of the bed.

“You’re not going to get this aren’t you?!”, Steph panted. Nick glanced at his phone, grunted something incomprehensible in Bodzvokhan and started undressing her. Her body was shivering, when he took off her panties and brushed her wet folds with his fingers. Then his phone went off again. His eyes were filled with annoyance, he grabbed his phone, answered and just growled: “NOT NOW DARYL! I’M BUSY!” He immediately hung up and smashed his mobile back onto the bedside table. Steph smiled and helped him out of his remaining clothes. The large scars on his chest and back looked even more daunting during daylight and she couldn’t help but caress the thickened tissue. She was just about to grab the wrapper, when Nick’s phone went off again. He was furious, but he knew that Daryl would call over and over again, if he wasn’t answering.

“Sorry Steph! Hold on for a sec!”, Nick rolled himself up to sit and put the phone to his ear. “This really has to be important Daryl!”, he snarled to his partner in a threatening tone.

Steph didn’t know what Daryl was talking about, but watching Nick pulling a wry face and turning paler by the second, she instantly knew, that this weren’t good news for her favorite orc.


	15. Chapter 15

Steph stared at the I-80 in front of her: Another three hour drive until home. Nick had been forced to leave in a hurry, because Daryl had broken the news, that their main sponsor was about to axe them. If he and Daryl wouldn’t be able to prevent them to do so, it would ultimately lead to Nick no longer being able to start into the new rodeo season, his peaking career ending just months after winning the big title.

Steph couldn’t quite understand, why Nick’s main sponsor would be willing to get rid of their biggest asset and she settled with the thought, that Daryl and Nick just needed to talk with the right person and everything would be alright eventually.

She stopped in Rock Springs, Nick’s home town, on her way to Laramie to have lunch at his favorite diner, he had recommended to her. And since she only had a small breakfast at a gas-station, a proper lunch sounded way too good to skip.

It was an easy task to find the old vintage style diner and when Steph entered through the glass front door, she immediately knew why Nick liked it so much. The food smelled delicious and the orcs and humans behind the counter gave her a warm welcome. Nick had instructed her to sit in a specific booth at the far left end, perfect to watch the other guests and the kitchen staff through the service hatch. Thankfully the booth was empty and Steph quickly took a seat, facing the kitchen. A tall young human girl came over and took her order. The diner had a very family friendly atmosphere and Steph started to inspect the many pictures, that were hung along the wall next to her. The first picture showed a middle-aged orc with filed tusks standing next to a little orc boy, who sat on the counter-top of the diner. The next picture showed the same, slightly older male orc with an apron wearing, quite familiar looking teenage orc behind the service-hatch. Steph had to smile, when she inspected the third picture frame and saw a photo of the old orc and an adult Nick, proudly wearing his wrangling gear.

She must have looked quite dreamy, because the waitress couldn’t help but comment, when serving Steph’s drink and some bread: “That’s Mario’s nephew…he is quite famous around here.”

“Hmmm? Sorry? What was that?”, Steph was caught off guard.

The human giggled and walked away, without answering, leaving Steph behind, only able to mouth a faint ‘Thank You’ after the waitress.

She inspected the remaining pictures, which appeared to be family portraits, chewing on some bread while waiting for her food to arrive. She was surprised, when her food was delivered by the old orc from all those pictures.

“There you go! Pulled Pork Burger and complimentary onion rings. Nick told me, you’d be hungry!”, the orc in his seventies smiled at Steph. She was astonished by his comment and asked: “How do you know, it’s me?!”

The old orc started laughing and replied: “May I sit with you for a moment?”

“Of course!”, Steph nodded and shoveled an onion ring into her mouth.

Mario went on telling her, that Nick had called to warn him about a gorgeous female orc, who was stopping by for lunch on her own, sitting at the family booth. The old orc pointed towards the pictures on the wall: “He told you to sit right here…he had it all planned. He likes to impress women! Always has, always will!”

Steph choked and had to swallow a big chunk of her burger and didn’t really know how to react to Mario’s comment. Was he kindly telling her, that Nick was a womanizer and she’d better move on? Or did she interpret too much into it? How many women had his uncle witnessed sitting in exact that same spot over the years?

Mario sensed her insecurity, leaned over the table towards Steph and smiled at her: “He told me you’re special…you’re different.”

“Did he?!”, Steph stuttered skeptically.

“Yes he did! And I certainly understand why he said that…”, he was interrupted by the sound of a bell, his kitchen assistant calling him back to work. “Sorry I need to go! I’ll come back later and you can tell me, if you liked the pulled pork. Nick helped me to refine my recipe for the BBQ sauce!” He then got up and disappeared behind the swinging doors.

“If I like the pulled pork…pfft…I could lay myself into it…!”, Steph mumbled to herself while digging in.

Mario joined her for another round of chatting with some coffee and a hot slice of apple pie. He told her about his younger sister, Nick’s mother and how he and his late wife had helped her to raise the horse loving rascal. The way he talked to her, talked about Nick, gave Steph a warm feeling of comfort.

She promised to visit again, when Mario presented her a snack package and a take-away cup of coffee for her remaining drive home. Steph gratefully accepted, thanked for the hospitality and said goodbye.

Skipping breakfast with Nick wasn’t so bad after all. Otherwise, she most likely would have never met Mario, at least not today. Although…skipping the sex part this morning, definitely brought a huge sigh upon her lips.


	16. Chapter 16

“Stop! You can’t go in there!” The small human receptionist tried to hold back Nick and Daryl.

Both men had met in front of the Wells Fargo Center, the tallest building in Salt Lake City. Bridgeworth, Nick’s main sponsor had their offices on the 23rd floor. And when Nick had asked to see the CEO, the receptionist denied access due to recent corporate structure changes. Both men were furious about the fact, that they had cancelled their contract out of nowhere and demanded to see the CEO, a decent human, Nick had trusted for many years.

Both men stormed towards the heavy wooden door at the end of the corridor, followed by the helpless and distressed woman, when the door suddenly sprung open and a tall, red-bearded male stepped outside and positioned himself in front of the door.

“Carol, I got this!”, he addressed the receptionist.

“I’ve tried my best to hold them back, Mr. Montehugh. I’m so sorry!”

“Don’t worry! Mr. Jakoby and Mr. Ward both know how to apologize for their behavior!”, he demandingly looked at them both and nodded towards the receptionist. Nick cleared his throat, he certainly felt ashamed to a certain degree, and turned around: “We’re sorry Miss! Our behavior was inappropriate. Please accept our apologies!”

“Yeah, what he just said…”, Daryl added with an annoyed tone. Then both men turned back around to face the robust man, who stood between them and the CEO’s office.

“I can’t remember seeing you around here”, Daryl noted.

“We’re here to see Mr. Bridgeworth”, Nick added respectfully, “We need to discuss my…our contract.”

“Well, you’re too late for that!”, Montehugh answered with a grin.

“There is always enough time to overthink a decision. Mr. Bridgeworth and we always managed to work something out to fit the interests of all parties”, Nick tried to reason, but was quickly rejected by the redhead: “As I said, you’re too late to talk to Mr.Bridgeworth…he’s dead!”

“Bullshit!”, Daryl could no longer hold back his temper, “You either let us in to see him or…”

“Or what?! Are you trying to threaten me?!” Montehugh stepped forward in front of Daryl and puffed his chest. Daryl, slightly smaller than his opponent just shook his head and quietly stepped back.

“Look…Mr. Montehugh…we only want to know the reason of the sudden withdrawal”, Nick tried to loosen the tension.

“Let them in!”, a calm and considerate voice called from inside the office.

“Who is that?”, Daryl wanted to know.

“The new CEO…I told you the old Bridgeworth died 4 days ago!”, Montehugh replied while opening the heavy wooden door for them.

The office looked completely different to what Nick and Daryl remembered and behind a large marble desk was a black chair, facing with its tall backrest towards the three men, who walked inside the room.

“Is it just me or do you have issues with your heating. It’s freezing”, Daryl rubbed his hands.

The black chair turned around and a sleek elf with long blue hair answered: “I prefer a cool working atmosphere…helps my brain to make the right decisions!”

“Right decisions! Ha! I’m laughing my ass off!”, Daryl just couldn’t help himself holding back.

“I’m sorry for my partner Mister…?”, Nick intervened to not agitate the situation further. After all they were the ones, who wanted something from them.

“Kandomere”, the elf responded while standing up from his chair to walk around his desk.

“Mister Kandomere…we’re sorry for interrupting your busy day, but I…we really need an explanation for your company’s decision to not continue to sponsor me and my partner for the upcoming rodeo season.”

The elf came to a halt right in front of Nick and Daryl: “Rodeo! What an unreasonable sport…is it even considered a proper sport?” He faced Montehugh, who answered with a sarcastic grin: “Yeah for those orc animals and subclass humans it surely is!”

Nick’s calm attitude instantly vanished upon hearing the condescending comment and he clenched his jaw, trying to hold back his anger. Daryl was less successful in getting a hold of himself and jumped at the well-dressed elf, who didn’t flinch even for a second.

“Is this the reason you’re robbing us of our future?! Because you snobby assholes can’t stand our sport?”, Daryl was furious.

Kandomere looked at Daryl, slightly raising his brows, his eyes scanning every inch of the human in front of him. He then rolled his eyes and turned around to face Nick, who was still trying to control his temper.

“Please tell your partner, that I don’t approve of such a tone!”

“Why don’t you do it yourself!?”, Nick replied with gritting teeth.

Kandomere quickly looked into Nick eyes, then turned away to walk back behind his desk. He threateningly stood behind the marbled monstrosity, put both his hands on top of it and leaned slightly forward with extended arms. He then began to calmly speak: “Well, with the unpredicted passing of Mr. Bridgeworth came unpredicted issues regarding the future of this company. I didn’t ask for it, but as the new CEO I need to make sure, that the reputation of this company is maintained to the highest standards and we are therefore no longer able to support a so-called ‘sport’, which unfortunately had been a hobby of the former CEO.”

“But Mister Kandomere…”, Nick tried to react but was interrupted.

“Mister Jakoby, the decision is final and irrevocable!”

“You can’t do this to us, just weeks before the new season!”, Daryl’s voice sounded desperate.

“You better look for a new job then!”, Montehugh laughed from aside. Kandomere gave him an annoyed look and the tall man sunk his head, slightly embarrassed.

“Mister Jakoby, Mister Ward, you might be successful in what you’re doing, but Bridgeworth is no longer able to support your career. You might not understand our decision, but there will be a day when you realize, that this was a necessary step. Now would you please excuse me, I’ve got important work to do.”

“He is the fucking World Champion you moron!”, Daryl shouted, while Montehugh grabbed his arm and guided him outside the office, with Nick close behind.

“That’s it!”, Nick took off his Stetson. He couldn’t believe, what had just happened. He sat down on the stairs next to the building and looked up to Daryl, who just shook his head.

“We could ask Rick to pitch in…”

“That was the first thing I thought…but he already declined…”, Daryl sighed and sat down next to his friend.

“Fuck!”

“Yeah! That pretty much describes our situation!”


	17. Chapter 17

Steph was on cloud number 9. She pretty much had settled back in at the family ranch and was busy training with the horses. Although she really missed her old boy Cargo, Steph quickly got accustomed to a beautiful bay mare, her father had bought for her Mom before she got sick. Steph didn’t know if she loved Margot, because she was her mother’s horse or because the quirky four year old seemed to have chosen her as her friend, before she even had taken her out for a ride. Every time Steph had been close to the stables, Margot started neighing as if she was calling her. Plus the fact that the name Margot sounded ridiculously similar to Cargo made it an easy decision. And within a few days the two became inseparable.

Nick had been calling Steph almost on a daily basis, and she was well aware, that something was really bothering the orc. Assuming it had something to do with the search for his biological father, Steph didn’t mention it further and was busy planning for Nick’s visit the upcoming weekend. He insisted to stay at a B&B in Laramie he’d stayed before and Steph agreed, that it might be too early to introduce Nick to her Dad.

“Munchkin, I need to go into town. Would you feed the horses and check on Doug’s draft version of our flyers? I’d love to have them printed by the end of the week. Would be a shame, if we miss out on all those Christmas and NYE guests!” Bruce joined his daughter in the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water.

“For how long will you be gone? I need your truck tonight…”, Steph was busy clearing out the dishwasher.

“I should be back for dinner!”

“Dad, I told you I’ll be dining out tonight!”, she slammed a large pot onto the counter.

“Right! Sorry I forgot! When do you need to go?”, he tilted his head and leaned against the kitchen island.

“We have a reservation at 8”, she turned around and put the pot into a cupboard.

“What was his name again?”

Steph turned around and flashed her eyes at her father: “Dad! I told you this is way too early for you to worry…”

“I’m not worried! I just want to know the name of the orc, who is taking my daughter out for dinner…he is an orc…is he?!”

“For Jirak’s sake Dad! What if he’s not? Does it really matter?!”, she put her hands on her hips.

“It’s not that I’m worried for you munchkin…”

“Then what do you want to imply Dad?!”

“Well…”, Bruce grinned, “…I’d feel pity for a human…poor guy…has no idea what he’s up to…”

“Dad! What the hell does this supposed to mean? I’m not a bad person!”

Bruce had to chuckle: “I’m just saying, if you’re just half of the passionate woman your mother was in our bedroom, your human boyfriend is in huge trouble!”

“Ewww…Dad that’s gross…please don’t talk about Mom like that!”

“Like what? That she was amazing in bed? That she knew exactly how to turn me on? That you were conceived just on this kitchen island…”, he patted the granite countertop next to them.

“Dad! Stop!”

“Oh come on Steph! Two weeks back in Wyoming and you’re prude again? You know, that a human wouldn‘t be able to satisfy your needs…”

“Nanananana…”, Steph theatrically put her fingers into her ears, “I don’t want to talk about this with you! Aren’t you supposed to leave?”

Bruce checked the time and startled: “Shit! Need to go! Don’t forget to look after the horses!”

“Dad, I’m not 10 years old! Now go! And be back on time!”, she shouted.

Bruce just smiled at her, before he closed the door behind him.

Nick was sweating. He couldn’t think of a moment he had been that nervous ever in his life. His heart was racing, his palms sweaty. He closely watched the door of the small café, startling every time someone walked in. He thought about all those rodeos, sitting in the box, a wild bronc underneath, waiting for the chute door to open. With crowds cheering and Daryl at his side, there always was enough distraction to cope with the adrenaline rush. But now he was on his own. No one rooting for him, nobody who talked to him to calm him down or to motivate him. He had been waiting for this day to arrive for as long as he could remember. Nick was excited and at the same time scared to hell. What if he’d be disappointed by his biological father, what if he had just agreed on this meeting to tell him to leave him alone? Nick had been coping well without a father in his life.

He wished he had asked Steph to come along, to just be close. To take him into her arms, if this meeting wouldn’t end the way he was hoping for. Or to be the first one to introduce her to his father. Just the thought of Steph being around took the edge off Nick and he didn’t notice the tall orc walking up to him.

“Nick? Nicholas Jakoby?!”

He looked up from his fingers, which were playing with his coffee mug and met the smiling face of an male orc in his fifties.


	18. Chapter 18

“Bear?”

“Ha…I haven’t heard that nickname for a while!” The friendly old orc took a seat and waved at the waitress to order a coffee. “Do you want another one or do you need something stronger?”, he asked Nick, who just stared at him.

“I’m fine, thanks!”, was the only thing Nick could reply.

They observed each other, marveling over their counterpart’s skin patterns, scenting, trying to get a clearer picture of the orc on the opposite of the table.

They were brought back to reality, when the waitress served the cup of coffee and offered something to eat. Both men declined and Nick wondered, why the old orc looked and smelled so familiar to him. And he instantly had to smile to himself upon realizing, that he obviously shared 50% of his DNA.

“So…”, the orc tried to start a conversation, “You’re a wrangler? Your tusks are filed…”

“Yeah! I am…”, Nick proudly smiled and continued: “But I’m also a veteran, US Marine Corps, Sir. I had to file my teeth when I enrolled.”

The old orc nodded and replied: “I need to be honest with you…” Nick’s heart went in his boots. _That’s it,_ he thought. But to his surprise his father didn’t tell him to leave him alone and confessed to him instead, that he had googled his name and that he was impressed by his career. Nick swore, that he saw pride in the eyes of the other male and puffed his chest just a little.

“So…You really are Selma’s boy?”

“Yes…”, Nick nodded.

“I loved her! I don’t know what she told you, but I really did love her!” Sadness overcame the old orc and he sank his head.

Nick swallowed “She told me, that my father moved away and that she had to move with her parents as well. But she never told me about YOU…was it because of me you had to move?”

The old orc lifted his head and looked deeply into Nick’s eyes: “I never knew you existed! I never knew, why Selma broke up with me. But now…the puzzle pieces fit together perfectly…”, he sighed and placed his hands on top of his bald head, “…her parent’s never approved of our relationship. Her Dad had some sort of feud with my father, I guess. When they moved away, I tried to stay in contact with Selma, but she ended our relationship out of nowhere. I was devastated”, he shook his head.

Nick couldn’t believe, that his beloved grandparents, his caring grandfather Mario, actually could have been the reason, why he grew up without a real Dad and asked: “Are you sure about that?! I mean…my grandparents, especially Pop, they did everything to make sure I grew up in a loving family.”

“Please don’t get me wrong Nick! I don’t see them as my enemies. They wanted to protect their daughter, their family. And I’m convinced Selma would have ended our relationship eventually. We were so young and had no idea what to do with our lives…and to be honest…you turned out to be perfectly fine without me.”

“I don’t know, maybe I’d accomplished more with a father in my life…”

“Do you really think you missed out on something?”

“Well…I was envious of my friends’ dads sometimes…but in retrospect you might be right…”, Nick smiled.

The old orc reached over the table: “You wouldn’t be the man, you are today son…and maybe some things will change, now that we found each other”, he flashed a toothy smile and patted Nick’s hand.

Nick was relieved. This conversation had taken a turn, he was really hoping for…for as long as he remembered. But something was still off. He didn’t know what it was, his blood system had been flooded with endorphins the whole time, but there was still this pit in his stomach, that evoked a chaos in his brain.

“What is wrong son?”, the old orc had picked up Nick’s confusion and tried to dig deeper.

“I don’t know…it’s just…there is so much going on my life at the moment…maybe my brain is just overwhelmed by all those feelings and emotions.”

“A woman?”

Nick was puzzled by that comment. He hadn’t been thinking of Steph for the entire conversation so far and had to smile.

“Actually…there is someone…”, Nick then confessed to his Dad.

“Maybe that’s it! Those women cloud our brains son. They wrap you around their finger…they make a brainless zombie out of you…their smell…their taste…”, he chuckled and shook his head.

“Tell me about it! I’m falling head over heels for this girl! She is the most beautiful being, I’ve ever met, inside and out…and trust me I’ve met a lot of women!”

“I guess being a rodeo rider on the Grand Tour is a pretty successful strategy to having fun”, he winked at the younger orc and Nick joined him in laughter, thinking of all those buckle bunnies…he indeed had some fun over the years.

“After Selma I never thought I could fall in love again…but…”, the orc suddenly changed the mood by lowering his head, “…I found the love of my life…”

“She must feel very lucky…”, Nick smiled across the table.

“She recently died…”

“Oh…I’m so sorry… I didn’t know that! My deepest condolences!”

“That’s alright. She was pretty sick and I’m just glad she didn’t have to suffer any longer…”

Nick nodded in consent. He somehow was able to relate, with the sudden loss of his mother still in the back of his mind.

“Well…”, the old orc interrupted the silence with a smile on his face, “I still have my daughter to remind me of my late wife. She is a spitting image of her Mom, although she really doesn’t want to hear that!”, he shook his head with a giggle.

“You…you have a daughter?!”, Nick widened his eyes.


	19. Chapter 19

Steph was hoping Nick would send her a life sign, a short text or even a quick call. He had told her, that today would be the big day, that he’ll finally meet his biological father. She had been quite annoyed by his unusual attitude over the last week and she only wished him, that his biological father would be glad he had searched for him and that Nick therefore would have another reason to visit Laramie more often. The new Rodeo season was only a few weeks away and Steph only could imagine, what all the traveling would do to their blooming love. She was really hoping, that their one-night-stand would evolve into a committed relationship.

Just the thought, that he might be exposed to all those buckle bunnies while touring the country, made her sick. Being that jealous was a first for Steph, she couldn’t think of any other situation like this in her life, besides that “incident” with Richard back in 1st grade.

Steph had looked after the horses, even went on a quick ride with Margot. She then checked on the design of their new flyers, as her dad had asked her to do, searched it for spelling mistakes and even took some new pictures of their guest rooms to replace some older ones. Although her mind currently was mostly occupied by Nick, she still wanted to be successful with their horse therapy farm stay project. They really needed the money to keep the family ranch. Her job back in San Francisco felt like ages ago and she left herself in wonder on how fast she’d been able to adapt to her former rural life.

“Maybe it’s a good sign, he’s not calling…seems like he and his Dad really hit it off with each other”, Steph talked to herself while plunging onto her bed, switching on her TV to distract herself. She had no idea what emotional turmoil Nick was going through in exact that moment.

Nick couldn’t believe, what his biological father just had told him. Finally finding not only his father, but also finding out that he had a sibling, should have been exciting news, but somehow Nick felt anxious about the fact he had a half-sister. He wasn’t sure what it was, but his orc senses told him, that something was wrong, really wrong.

“Do you want to see a picture?”, his Dad reached for his wallet to pull out three photos.

Nick didn’t know what to respond, he couldn’t think straight, sweating abnormally, his heart beating fast against his ribs, he had no idea what was happening to his body.

“This is my munchkin on her first day of school”, he pushed the old wrinkly picture over the table.

Nick was afraid to look at it, but somehow felt the urge to face the truth. _This couldn’t be her! This can’t be her!,_ he thought to himself. He looked at the picture and wasn’t so sure right away, if the happy little girl in the picture were the one he assumed it to be. Panic overcame him, his vision became blurry, when the second and the third picture followed.

“Steph really is one of a kind!”, the old orc smiled proudly.

But Nick wasn’t able to show the reaction, his father was hoping for. Instead Nick went pale and felt bile rising. Quickly jumping up from his seat, he raced to the bathroom. His stomach was turning and he almost didn’t make it in time to lean over the loo to relieve the pressure in his chest.

Cradling the bowl, Nick sat on the cold tiles, not able to form a single straight thought. He felt dizzy, like he was suffering a really bad concussion, pictures of Steph's naked body flashing before his inner eye.

It took a while for him to get back up and he was hoping, that his father, Bruce Bozhko wouldn’t come to the bathroom to check on him. Nick felt so embarrassed. How couldn’t he put two and two together?! He questioned his sanity, why he never had thought of Steph and his father sharing the same last name, could actually imply that they are related?! How stupid of him! He felt betrayed by his own orc instincts. Was he really just a rutting animal, as elves usually referred to orcs? He splashed some cold water onto his face and looked into the cracked mirror on the wall. His eyes were empty, he looked like shit. He only wanted to run, far, far away, as quick as possible. And he never wanted to return. Just the thought of facing Steph, who he’d thought to be the love of his life, even hoping her to become his eternal mate, resulted in a panic attack. He leaned both his hands on the sides of the sink and panted.

“Are you OK son?!”, the bathroom door swung open and Bruce entered the small room with a really concerned look on his face. “Is there anything I can do for you?!”

_Yeah, turn back the time and make that I never meet your daughter!_

He kept the thought to himself of course and instead just grunted and mumbled something about food poisoning.

Bruce sympathetically patted the back of his grown son and added: “I need to go Nick, I already paid the bill. My daughter has a date tonight and I promised her to take my truck, so I need to go home. Otherwise she‘d kill me.”

Nick just nodded and took a deep breath.

“Please call, Nick! I really want to get to know you better…and I really want you to meet Steph!” And with another pat on Nick’s back, the old orc disappeared through the bathroom’s door.

Nick looked back up into the mirror. FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!

There is no way he’s going on a date with his half-sister tonight!


	20. Chapter 20

Steph tapped her nails on the table and nervously looked at her phone. Nick was already 25 minutes late. Why didn’t he respond to her messages. He hadn’t even written back, after the meeting with his biological father.

“Miss, would you like to order a drink now?”, the young waiter asked her for the fourth time, but she declined again.

_Did I say or do something wrong?_ She really couldn’t think of something she had done to deserve this. _Why is he ignoring me?!_

What if something went wrong with his Dad? Steph started to worry and dialed Nick’s number. Ringing… “Oh, come on Nick! Pick up!” It went to mailbox after a while. But Steph wasn’t easily deterred and called again. She heard the clicking in the line…”Nick?!”, but instead of answering he hung up on her. “What the fuck! Hanging up on me?!” The other guests turned around to look at Steph and she blushed: “Sorry! I’m sorry!”

She then tried to call for a third time, but it went straight to mailbox.

Steph slammed her napkin onto the table and excused herself. She stormed outside towards her dad’s truck and hopped inside. She needed to see him, she wanted him to tell her face to face, why he stood her up tonight.

When she parked in front of the small B&B Nick had told her he’d stay for the weekend, she tried to spot Nick’s truck. She parked her car and walked towards the main entrance, when a truck emerged from behind the building.

Nick wasn’t expecting to see Steph ever again, but there she was right in front of his truck, brightly illuminated by his headlights. He thought of circumnavigating her and racing away, but the sadness in her eyes matched his empty soul. _Did she knew?_

“Where are you going?!”, she screamed on top of her lungs, for Nick to hear her through his closed windows.

He sighed, lowered his head and turned off the engine. They had to face the ugly truth: that their amazing one-night-stand was nothing more than uncontrolled incest. A forbidden act between brother and sister. He felt tears in his eyes and wiped them away with his sleeve, before opening his door to climb out.

Steph had walked around the truck, noticing his packed bag in the rear seat and waited for him with crossed arms. “What were you thinking?! You could at least return my texts!”

She instantly saw it in his eyes, that something was wrong. That something really bad must have happened. “Is everything alright with you and your Dad?!” Steph closed in on him and reached out for Nick’s arm, but he stepped back from her, so she wouldn’t touch him. “Nick…Please tell me what is wrong?!”

_Fuck! She didn’t know! Bruce hadn’t told her._

“Steph, did your Dad talk to you?”, he asked with a shaky voice.

“What’s wrong? Why should I have talked to my Dad?”

“He didn’t tell you?!”

“Tell me what Nick?! Talk to me! What is wrong with you?”

“He didn’t tell you about…me…?”

“You mean if he had the father daughter talk with me about us?! Please be assured, there is nothing my Dad needs to know about me, about us at this moment!”

Nick became agitated, why was she so oblivious to reality? He had to admit though, that until this afternoon he had been blind as well.

Steph came closer and again reached out to touch Nick’s arm. She really wanted to get to the bottom of this. But Nick startled upon her touch and retracted his arm: “Please don’t touch me!”, he almost said in a pleading tone. Her eyes were wide open and she could smell his discomfort. But there was something else…something she didn’t want to believe. But it was there, undeniably: disgust! But why for Jirak’s sake?!

What had happened to her favorite orc? To the man she thought to be her soul mate. He had changed into someone, she didn’t recognize. She felt tears rolling down her cheek and closed her eyes. “Why are you doing this to me?”, Steph started sobbing.

_No! Please don’t cry! This is making it worse than it already is!_ Nick really wanted to talk to her, comfort her, but his mind just couldn’t come up with the right words.

“We can’t continue to see each other…”, he finally was able to speak out loud.

Steph opened her eyes and searched for his. Anxiously awaiting an explanation from him, but he apparently hadn’t more to say to her.

“Fine! Go, run away asshole! Go and find whatever you’re looking for! I bet there are hundreds of buckle bunnies waiting in line! I thought what we had was special, but obviously you’re fine throwing it all away!”

_She had no idea!_ He didn’t want to run away from her. All he wanted was to be with her. But they couldn’t be together. He couldn’t understand why both their animalistic instincts weren’t able to pick up, that they were directly related to each other. He wanted to embrace her, console her, but he was afraid, that as long as she didn’t know the truth, close body contact would result in something inappropriate.

Steph’s sobbing hurt his ears, she didn’t deserve to suffer like that, she deserved to know the truth. He had hoped Bruce would be the one to tell her, but the situation was inevitable. He had to be the one to tell her.

“Do you know, where your Dad went this afternoon?”

Steph stopped her sobbing and looked at Nick puzzled.

“How did you know he went out…?”, she was baffled.

“Steph, there is something I have to tell you…something your Dad should have been telling you…”

His words didn’t make any sense to her. “Nick, could you please tell me what is wrong…”, her teary, red eyes pleaded to him.

“I met my Dad, Steph!”

“I know! You told me so, but what does this have to do with my Dad?!”

“He’s my Dad…”

She was about to get angry with Nick, when she suddenly took a deep breath and soaked in all of Nick’s distinctive smell. His smell, that filled her with lust, the smell that made her body scream out of desire. Her eyes widened: “What did you just say?!” Nick instantly saw, that panic was overcoming her. She gasped: “What…what…what did you just say?!”

“I told you I met with my Dad this afternoon…he’s your Dad…” Nick saw in the stricken look on her face, that she was about to faint, but he had to get it all out, to say the unavoidable truth: “I’m your half-brother, Steph!”

“No! No! Don’t do this to me! You’re a liar! A LIAR!”, her entire body trembled. She wanted to believe her own words…liar…, but somehow her body instantly knew, that he was speaking the truth. Tears sprung to her eyes and the world around her started to rotate faster and faster until…everything went black.


	21. Chapter 21

Nick panicked. What had he done?! He rushed to Steph’s side and knelt down. His heart was beating fast and he tried to wake her up. He held her tight, rubbing her cheek, speaking to her motionless body. Nick was no longer able to hold back his tears and started sobbing. How could the day, he had assumed to be one of the best days in his life, meeting his biological father and having a romantic dinner date with Steph, end like that in the cold and dirty car park of a B&B. And to make matters worse, heaven opened its gates and released thick and heavy snowflakes to make their way to earth. Nick loved snow, the peaceful sight of the snow covered countryside soothed him. But in this moment he hated it, as if the snowflakes were mocking him on purpose. A delicate flake found its way to one of Steph’s eyelids and Nick couldn’t help but stare at the beautiful hexagonal shape. Then her lids started to flutter and her complexion got back its vivid color. Steph opened her eyes and looked straight into the face, that she loved so much. Nick was relieved, that she had regained her consciousness and felt this urge from deep inside of him to kiss her. Shocked by his own emotions he tried to suppress his thoughts, when Steph suddenly reared up, holding onto Nick’s arm, turned herself away and vomited on the freshly snow covered ground.

_Thank Jirak I didn’t kiss her!_ Nick thought to himself and briefly had to smile.

“Are you OK?”, he gently stroke her back.

“Besides, that I’m madly in love with my brother and just emptied my stomach into a parking lot?”, she forced a fake smile on her lips.

“I’m so sorry! That’s why I wanted to run…to prevent you from looking at me…ever again.”

She didn’t know what to respond. She didn’t even know how to think straight, to be honest. Her brain was working in emergency mode. It took a while for both of them to be back in some sort of reasonable state, and the steadily increasing snowfall made it clear, that they really had to get going.

“Come on! I’ll help you get up. And I’ll drive you home”, Nick offered.

“No, I need to take back my Dad’s truck…I mean our Dad’s…”, Steph objected with a weary voice.

“Please don’t do this…he is your Dad! I’m not going to compete with you. I’ll be gone as soon as you’re safe at home and you both have to never see me again, I’ll leave you alone. I promise!”

“Did you tell him about us?”, Steph timidly asked, while he walked her towards her car.

“No! He doesn’t know we know each other…that we…”, Nick couldn’t finish and instead scratched the back of his head feeling ashamed.

“…that we slept with each other…”, she continued his sentence, although her words hurt her so much.

“There is no need to tell him! It was a mistake and it will never happen again!”

Steph had convinced Nick, that she’d been able to drive back in her Dad’s truck on her own. But with the heavy snowfall, Nick insisted to follow her, to make sure she’d arrive home safely. When she pulled into the narrow road next to a large wrought-iron sign reading Pope Springs, his heart skipped a beat. How he would have loved to visit his Dad on his ranch. To get to know him better. But now, this was no longer an option. He had to leave and never return. He saw the red taillights stopping in front of the large farmhouse and watched Steph climbing out of the truck.

She looked back towards the main road, where Nick had stopped and she had to swallow. That’s it! That’s the Goodbye she never expected. But it was better that way, for all of them. She turned around and walked towards the main entrance and in the corner of her eye, she saw Nick’s truck disappearing into a white wall of snow.

It hurt so much! Why did the right decision hurt so much?!


	22. Chapter 22

**Nine months later**

Steph woke up to the annoying sound of her Dad clearing the fresh snow out of their driveway. As a child she had loved the early morning sound of a shovel scraping over the grounds, signaling that it had snowed overnight.

She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed the snow in San Francisco, until the day after Nick had left. She had admired the peacefully sleeping, snow covered landscape back in March, when she woke up the following day. The serene atmosphere somehow helped her to soothe herself. And when her Dad finally had told her about him having met his son, there was only one way Steph could cope with the emotional rollercoaster: riding through the snow with Margot. The cold and the monochromatic landscape literally numbed her.

The new snow back in March didn‘t last long and Springtime quickly arrived soon after.

Now, way into December, with a full guest house, she rarely thought of Nick and her Dad never talked about him either. She was afraid to ask, but she assumed that Nick had cut off his contact to Bruce as well.

Although Orcs weren’t celebrating Christmas, Steph and her Dad were busy to accommodate their mostly human guests and their desire to stay in a festively decorated house. She enjoyed putting out all the decorations her Mom meticulously had put away and stored in one of their sheds. Some new stuff, she had never seen, but also some older ornaments she remembered from her childhood. It was depressing for Steph, to think about last year’s Christmas, the last one she could have spent with her Mom, instead of partying in Cabo San Lucas with her friends. Her friends…the ones, that never called. The ones, that promised to visit her in Wyoming, but so far hadn’t shown up. She sporadically texted with Tina, who seemed to be busy with her boyfriend, moving in with her only a few weeks after Steph had left. And to be honest…Steph didn’t really miss them as well. She had hooked up with some of her teenage friends in Laramie and otherwise enjoyed her work with the horses and their ranch guests.

“Steph?! Are you up?”, Bruce interrupted her melancholic thoughts by calling from downstairs.

“Yup! I’m coming!”

Steph quickly put on her clothes and jumped down the flight of steps, ready to tackle a new day.

They met in the kitchen, where her Dad had poured himself a large cup of coffee.

“Hey munchkin! Have you seen all the new snow? I need to climb up on the stables, to clear the roof. Could you give me a hand after the guests had their breakfast?”

“Sure! Do we need anything else to do this afternoon? I’d like to go into town to get some Christmas presents.”

“Christmas presents? Are you another orc falling for the human’s immoral holiday sales strategy?”

“What?!”, Steph had to giggle, “I’m not falling for anything! I just want to get some smaller gifts for our human guests. This is called customer loyalty, Dad! They’ll always remember their Christmas at Pope Springs and hopefully return next year or at least recommend us to their families and friends.”

“You’re as clever as your Mom! What would I do without you?”

“You’d have to make your own breakfast!”, she pushed a plate with four strips of bacon and some scrambled eggs over the counter and smiled at her Dad.

They went on with their day and Steph headed into town in the late afternoon, to return home just in time to prepare dinner.

Over the last months and in between her therapeutic sessions with some of the guests, Steph had discovered her cooking skills and really enjoyed whipping up some traditional orcish dishes. It had taken her some time and some minor adjustments to the recipes to accommodate the human palate, but overall she was pretty proud of herself, especially after an older guest had asked for her recipes, even suggesting to her to write a cookbook. Steph actually thought about it, but then decided to postpone it to the next year. Adding it to a long list of ranch related tasks.

And then Christmas was finally there. For the orcs just another day in the year, but for the humans a very special day indeed.

It was tradition at Pope Springs, to hold a luncheon to celebrate with all guests and Steph went out of her way to fill the table with lots of yummy stuff.

Steph had invited Richard Galvan to the luncheon, her father’s bank manager, not only to thank him for helping them to save the ranch, but to make it some sort of official, that they were dating. Yes, he was human and yes, his manhood couldn’t really compete with the dick of an orc, but Steph had always felt safe around him. He was funny and he adored the shits out of her.

Bruce proposed a toast and everybody had started eating, when the doorbell rang all of a sudden. Steph looked surprised at her father, who just shrugged back at her. She excused herself from the party and went for the front door.

She had no idea who to expect outside and cheerfully swung the door open.

He hadn’t planned to come and he sort of regretted his move, when he climbed out of his truck, but he didn’t want to disappoint his father. His heart was pounding, when he pushed the door bell and he had no clue what to say upon finally seeing her again.

And there she was, as beautiful as he remembered, standing in front of him with her mouth wide agape, wearing a cute plaid shirt dress and cherry red cowboy boots.

“H…hi Steph! Bruce invited me…can I come in?”


	23. Chapter 23

She closed the door behind Nick and had trouble breathing. Taking off his coat he timidly smiled at Steph: “I better should have warned you…”

There were so many things, she wanted to tell him, but she wasn’t able to speak. Her body started to shiver, while indulging herself in his irresistible smell.

“Nick! What a surprise! I’m so glad you were able to come!”, Bruce joined them in the hallway and greeted his son with a big hug. “Steph, this is Nicholas Jakoby! The son of my first girlfriend Selma, my son…” Noticing that Steph was about to have a mild panic attack he faced his daughter and grabbed her hand: “Nick is having a hard time lately and I invited him…I hope this is OK for you munchkin…I know I should have talked to you about it first…”

Steph suddenly realized, that her Dad and Nick were indeed in contact over the last months and she couldn’t quite grasp the significance. But she didn’t want to disappoint her father and put up a brave front, replying with a shaky voice: “It’s OK Dad…he won’t be staying for too long, isn’t he?” She looked at both Nick and her Dad for reassurance.

The two orcs nodded at each other and then Bruce told his daughter, that he actually invited Nick to stay for a few days.

Her heart was pounding, and she swore there were sparks flying, when Nick looked her straight into her eyes. _This was such a bad idea!_

They returned to their guests at the long dining table and Bruce introduced Nick to everyone. Steph went back to sit next to Richard and Nick found a spot next to Bruce on the far end of the table.

Her appetite had completely vanished and she caught herself several times, prying over to Nick, who casually talked to her Dad. If Richard was an orc, he’d definitely sensed her attraction to her half-brother, but thankfully his human nose couldn’t pick up all the pheromones she was emitting.

When all their guests had left the dining area and most of the kitchen chaos was under control, Bruce joined Steph and Richard, who were putting away the leftovers.

“Steph, Nick is going to sleep on the couch in my office tonight. Do you know of any extra blankets I can give to him, since all our guest rooms are occupied?”

“I’ve got two spares in my room upstairs…do you want me to get them now?”

“No need to hurry munchkin! We’ll check on the horses, just take your time”, her father replied.

“How does it feel to suddenly have a brother?”, Richard wanted to know, while putting the food containers into the large fridge.

“You mean half-brother…”, Steph looked at him pretending to be annoyed.

“He really seems to be a nice guy…”

“Yeah, he probably is…”, Steph rolled her eyes to exaggerate her annoyance, hoping that Richard wouldn’t pick up her true feelings. He closed in on her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Steph closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation of Richard’s body pressing against hers. She leaned her head to the side and Richard started nuzzling her neck. Oh how she was missing the arousing sensation of being bitten! Her thoughts wandered off to the last time, someone had sunken his teeth into her soft flesh: Nick! She sighed. Richard took that as an invitation and started to caress her body with his hands.

“Not here…”, she panted, then took off her apron and pulled Richard upstairs to her room.

She was overwhelmed by her lustfulness and Richard was clearly in the mood as well.

“Can we do it doggy style?”, Steph groaned and started to strip down. Richard looked at her and smiled. He had been enjoying her straightforward nature and quickly got rid of his clothes as well. Equipped with a rubber he sank his enlarged cock into her soft, wet folds, both hands cupping her supple ass. Steph dug her face into her pillow and could only think of the orc outside, touring the stables with her Dad. She thought of Nick’s strong muscular body, his broad shoulders, the narrow waist, all covered with those magnificent blue skin patterns, while Richard was pumping his cock into her. She knew it wasn’t fair to use Richard like that, but she couldn’t help her strong orc urges. While she was pressing her rear tightly against Richard’s crotch, hoping to get an even deeper penetration, her male counterpart started throbbing, announcing his release. Steph pictured Nick sinking his teeth into her shoulder, to help her climax as well. She bit her lip, to taste her own blood, while only one name occupied her brain: Nick! Oh Nick!

Richard retracted from her, got rid of the condom and snuggled her tight. “This was amazing!”, he whispered into her ear, then kissed the back of Steph’s head, not knowing that her brain wasn’t thinking of him at all.


	24. Chapter 24

It was already dark outside, when Steph brought Richard to his car and gave him a goodbye kiss. Noticing light inside the stables, she decided to check on the horses and was surprised to find Nick brushing her horse Margot.

“What are you doing?!”, she harshly addressed him.

“She’s a lovely mare! I think she likes me…”, Nick answered without looking up to Steph.

“Don’t you dare! That is my horse!” She jumped at him and ripped the brush out of his hand.

Nick lifted his head: “I know…Bruce told me…”

“Why did you come back?!”, Steph gently stroke the side of Margot’s neck.

“I told you Bruce invited me…”

“You can’t be here…”

“I’m sorry, that is not your decision to make.”

“Fuck you! This is MY home! If you stay, Dad will find out about us…”

“He won’t. Yes, we made a mistake…right…but don’t you think we’ve moved on?!”

She looked at him puzzled. Didn’t he think about her the way she was thinking about him?

“I wouldn’t have showed up, if Dad hadn’t told me about you and your boyfriend”, he continued.

“My boyfriend?!”

“How else would you call the guy you’re sleeping with?”, Nick tilted his head to the side.

“Excuse me? This is none of your business!”

“Well, then you should have showered first, before coming here…”, he grinned.

Steph blushed. Of course he knew about them having sex, with her body still covered in Richard’s subtle human scent, mixed with her strong smell of sex hormones. What she didn’t know, was that deep inside, Nick felt the exact same attraction towards her.

Before he had arrived at Pope Springs, he was hoping to be able to ignore it all, but once he saw her standing right in front of him, he really had to fight his inner demons, not to grab and taste her, right before greeting his father.

“Please turn off the light, before going back into the house. I’ve put two blankets into your room. We can talk about your departure in the morning…”

“I’m not leaving tomorrow, Steph”, Nick tried to emphasize.

“We will see, Nick! We will see…”, she turned on her heels and left the speechless orc.

It would be harder, than he thought…

They only had a few snacks for dinner, since all of them were still filled by the generous lunch they had.

After all their guests went to their rooms for the night, the three orcs gathered in front of the large fireplace and just stared into the open flames.

Bruce was the first one, trying to pick up a conversation: “So Nick, what will you be doing next year, since you won’t be competing?”

Steph startled and stared at Nick, who slowly lowered his head.

“Honestly, I don’t know yet…”, he answered.

Steph couldn’t hold herself back: “Why aren’t you riding the next season?”

Bruce looked at his daughter: “Don’t you know about his accident?”

“Accident?!”, Steph stared back at Nick, hoping to get an answer from him.

“Well, the accident wasn’t the main reason, me and Darryl won’t be competing the next season. Our main sponsor axed us back in March. We tried to tour only with a handful of smaller sponsors, but we just couldn’t gather enough money to be able to travel along the Grand Tour.”

“Your sponsors axed you?!”, suddenly Nick’s strange behavior back then, made sense to Steph.

“Yep, no sponsors no rodeo! The accident was just something that happened afterwards…”

“Could we please talk about something else…?”, Bruce interrupted, “How long will you be able to stay, Udam? We really could need another helping hand out here.”

Steph had to swallow. Hearing her Dad referring to Nick as his son, turned her stomach upside down. And the fact, that her Dad apparently offered Nick to stay for much longer than she was hoping for, made her feel even worse. She knew, that her Dad would eventually smell her desire for Nick and this ultimately would lead to him finding out about their one-night stand. There was no way she could let that happen!

She found herself laying wide awake in bed later that night, thinking of him, knowing that this all was oh so wrong. But pleasuring herself, seemed to be the only way to peacefully fall asleep. She moaned into her own palm, imagining Nick’s perfect body on top of her, while she caressed her wet pussy with her other hand.

Meanwhile Nick was laying on his father’s couch downstairs, inhaling Steph’s sweet scent, that was covering his blankets. _Did she do this on purpose, to torture me?_ He had been coping well with the heartbreak over the last months, not thinking too much about Steph, his 8 week hospital stay included. But now, being so close to her, it overcame him all at once. The only way he could figure to fall asleep as quick as possible, was to get rid of that damn boner in his trunks. Tightly wrapping his cock with his hand, he imagined Steph covering his entire body with kisses, before caressing his manhood with her talented tongue. He didn’t care about soiling her blankets…just the thought of the smell of his semen mixed with her sweet, luscious scent drove him insane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bodzvokhan translation:  
> Udam = son


	25. Chapter 25

It was quite obvious to Nick, that Steph had her issues with him staying into the new year. There was this awkward situation on NYE, when everybody hugged each other, celebrating at midnight. Both Nick and Steph had made the full round, when they ended up in front of each other. Nick didn’t hesitate to embrace her, since Richard was present as well: what could possibly go wrong? But he instantly felt this strong feeling from deep inside his core, like butterflies on steroids. At first Steph tried to fight it, but as soon as he held her close and she could feel his heart beating fast, she literally inhaled his delectable scent and couldn’t help but lean in on him. His strong arms around her felt so bitter sweet. They both wanted to enjoy every fraction of the second and didn’t notice, that they were actually holding onto each other much longer than you’d usually consider appropriate for an ordinary hug between brother and sister. Nick really had to restrain himself from kissing Steph’s forehead, after Richard eventually burst their fragile bubble with a harrumph and they had no other choice than to part.

As soon as the first of their holiday guests had departed the ranch, Bruce instructed Steph to block the vacated room indefinitely, for Nick to move in. Both male orcs knew, that Steph didn’t feel comfortable with Nick hanging around much longer than initially planned. But she didn’t say something, and while Bruce suspected Steph to simply be jealous of her half-sibling, Nick knew the true reason for her reluctance towards his person, because he could swear to Jirak, that he was able to smell her sheer attraction towards him.

Steph tried to avoid Nick’s presence whenever it was possible. One day, after they had packed up all the Christmas decorations, Steph decided to hide out in the shed to reorganize their storage.

Armed with a labeling machine she sat on the floor, among all those boxes. The door fell back into its lock and Steph assumed, that her Dad was joining her.

After she had moved back to the ranch, they had been going through some old boxes, reminiscing about her childhood. The father-daughter duo could spend hours of hours going through old pictures and stuff, telling stories to each other.

“Bruce wanted me to bring you these…”, Nick presented her a stack of festive table cloths and tea towels.

Steph wasn’t expecting Nick at all and was at loss. _What is he doing here?! He shouldn’t be here!_

Her thoughts were spinning, while she was trapped between fragile decorations and Nick blocking the only way towards the exit. Since flight wasn’t an option, she decided to fight. Unfortunately Steph couldn’t come up with anything sassy and an awkward silence hit the room. Nick then took the chance and tried to start a conversation: “Look, I’m not here to make you feel uncomfortable, I just…”

“How on earth do think you’re making me feel uncomfortable?”, she interrupted him, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

“Ummm…I can smell it…there’s no need for you to deny it!”

Steph got agitated and rose up against him, regretting her move the second her face was only inches away from his. His nostrils flared and his ears started twitching. Her palms got sweaty and cold shivers went down her back. He just loved her smell. And she just loved his.

“You can’t deny it Steph! We’re attracted to each other, as if…”, he didn’t dare to end his sentence.

“…as if we were mates!”, she completed his thoughts.

A brief smile crossed his lips and he closed in on her.

“I thought…I thought, that coming here would make it easier…”

“How for Jirak’s sake would this make it easier?!”

Nick grabbed Steph’s hand: “It took a while for me to not constantly think about you…I thought coming here would make it easier…”

“You already said that…”, Steph stroke her thumb above the back of his hand.

“I did…”, he lowered his head with a sigh.

“Nick…we both might be…attracted to each other, but this is wrong! We can’t act out those feelings! We’re related. I’d love to have you as a brother, just as a brother. But since you returned, I’m getting overwhelmed by all those emotions, every time I see you!”

“Whoa…this is…this is…”, he was scratching the back of his head while searching for words.

She looked deeply into his eyes: „This is too much for me to handle right now! I don’t even know, if these are true feelings, or if I’m only chasing after a dream… after something…something that seemed to complete me the night we met, but circumstances have changed since then.”

“I actually never looked at it that way! Both our bodies might still be compromised and therefore can’t accept the new circumstances.”

“There’s a way we could find out, if we’re still compromised…”, she slightly tilted her head to the side.

“And how is that?”, Nick had to swallow.

“Kiss me Nick. Just kiss your sister. We won’t enjoy it, because we both know, that this isn’t appropriate. We might be cured after that…”

“Sounds like a plan…are you sure you’re really okay with that…”, he carefully closed his face in on her, “…and…what if we enjoy it?”

Steph could feel his hot breath upon her lips.

“We won’t…”, she sighed and gently pressed her lips on his.

Both closed their eyes and Nick instinctively wrapped his arms around her to pull her close. She wanted to wrangle herself free at first, but she couldn’t let go. His soft lips felt so good. Her primeval instincts overcame her and she gently bit his lip, just enough to get a taste of him. Nick startled and let go of her.

“I’m sorry! I’m so so sorry!”, she excused her behavior, feeling embarrassed.

Nick licked the blood from his lip and sighed: “We might need another try…”

“Now?! What if Dad walks in…”, she started to panic.

“He went over to the Irvins…”, he again closed in on her, “…we’re safe for a second try, I’m pretty sure we won’t enjoy the next kiss!”

Steph then stepped closer as well: “We need to stop as soon, as we’re enjoying it.”

“Understood. Brother-Sister-Kiss Part 2…we won’t enjoy this!”, Nick nodded.

Their soft lips met again.

“I’m not enjoying this…”, Steph mumbled into Nick’s mouth.

“Me neither…”, he replied, but the blush on his cheeks told another story. Both didn’t want to withdraw, yet.

Steph placed her hands on his strong pectorals. “I’m still not enjoying this…”, she moaned while nibbling his lip to expose one of his filed tusks.

“I agree…”, he returned her the favor and gently bit her lower lip. Their heads were spinning, their breathing got heavier by the second. And although they both knew, that this was oh so wrong, they both opened their mouths for their tongues to meet. Nick groaned out of pleasure and Steph could feel her panty to dampen. The sweet smell of her arousal went straight into his nose and he couldn’t help but press her against his urging body. Parting their their lips only to be able to breathe. Their bodies were definitely not convinced, that this wasn’t appropriate at all.

“Nick…fuck…Nick…we need to stop!”, she tried to warn him in between crashing her mouth back into him. They couldn’t stop.

The air surrounding them was filled with pure lust and both orcs were helpless against those hormone driven desire. Nick cupped her face with his hands and pulled her head closer. They tumbled across the floor, bumping into the surrounding boxes, tripping over the stack of table cloths, almost toppling over.

They would have completely lost the control over their bodies, if the sound of someone slamming a car door close hadn’t alarmed them.

They jumped apart, panting, both trying to process what just had happened.

“I don’t think this is working…”, Nick admitted, trying to catch his breath.

“Nope! Definitely not working…!”, Steph couldn’t agree more.


	26. Chapter 26

Bruce really enjoyed having an extra farm hand around, but sometimes felt overwhelmed by the thought that his two children didn’t seem to get along well with each other. He assumed, that Steph, being the daughter of her mother, was trying to intimidate the intruder, hoping to regain their little family of two. But Nick on the other hand didn’t seem to respond to her plot the way she was hoping for, resulting in some ridiculous fights over nothing. Steph usually vanished after those fights and later returned with a distinctive human scent on her.

One day Steph noticed Nick still limping, a week after he was thrown off a bucking bronc. She had asked him, if she could help him, being a physiotherapist after all. But he just shrugged it off, stating that this was due to the broken hip he had suffered seven months ago.

That night Steph cried herself to sleep, after watching several videos of Nick’s horrible rodeo accident on YouTube. Seeing his lifeless body in the middle of the arena, with a bucking horse trampling on top of him, his blood running over the dusty ground, made her realize how much he really meant to her. How much she was attracted to him. How much she loved him. She hated herself for those feelings and wondered how long Richard would be able to meet her needs. He was already talking about having a family, but she wasn’t ready for that. She couldn’t picture him as her husband, while she was only thinking of fucking her half-brother. She loved Richard as a person, but apparently his human body couldn’t give her what she truly needed, what she was longing for. And Nick certainly wasn’t the right one to fulfill her desires either.

Nick seemed to cope quite well with his mother’s first death anniversary, in heavy contrast to Steph, who still felt guilty about her egoistic approach towards her Mom’s illness. And with the first anniversary of her mother’s funeral, ultimately came the anniversary of Steph’s and Nick’s one-night stand. She had a minor meltdown that night and poor Richard had to cope with some extra rough sex. Not that he was complaining.

Nick had been traveling between Laramie and his hometown Rock Springs for a few times, but returning with an extra bag of stuff every time he came back to the ranch. And by the end of February Nick had moved to Pope Springs for good, after all of a sudden his grandfather Mario had peacefully passed away. One of Nick’s distant cousins was taking over the Diner in Rock Springs and kindly had asked Nick to move out of the house, making way for her family to move in instead. He gladly accepted her offer and was able to pay off most of his hospital bills, that had accumulated after his rodeo accident.

Bruce helped Nick to clear the old garden shed next to the main house, and with a little help from some neighbors, they were able to transform it into Nick’s personal space.

The Bozhko family business was running smoothly, with guests from all over the States. Steph was over the moon, when she found several online reviews of their guest house and her therapeutic services, raving about the beautiful ranch setting and the loving physiotherapist. Everything seemed to be perfect. The money was flowing, the bank seemed to be happy, Bruce was happy having his family around and Nick seemed to be happy as well. Steph had been the only one, who was still not quite sure, if this was the life she had pictured for her future. The new NFL season wasn’t officially starting until August, but every now and then Steph caught herself thinking of reviving her furloughed contract with the 49ers.

“You need to help Nick piling up the fire wood. I forgot to pick up our order at the butcher and need to go back into town”, Bruce ordered Steph while climbing into his truck.

“But I’m not done with the stables!”, Steph replied.

“Nick will help you to clean the stables afterwards. I’ll be back soon. The fire is more important, munchkin!”

“Alright, alright…”, she rolled her eyes, watching her Dad leave.

“Dad is really into _Semv Koster_!”, Nick noted when he emerged from behind the barn, his arms full with fire wood. Steph shrugged: “I guess he’s afraid we’re forgetting about the old traditions.”

“To be honest, I haven’t been to a proper _Semv Koster_ for at least a decade!”, Nick put the wood down to the pile he had arranged in the middle of the front yard.

“Explains why you have no idea how to build a pyre!”, Steph teasingly kicked her foot against the wonky wood pile, ultimately helping it to collapse. She started laughing, but by the sight of Nick’s reaction, she knew in an instant, that she had to run. Fast.

Nick chased her around the yard, trying to catch her: “You better help me re-build the pyre, or…”

“Or what?!”, she giggled, while zig-zagging back and forth.

“Dad is going to kill me, if the fire pit isn’t ready when he returns!”

Steph got distracted by a car driving into the property and Nick was able to snatch her arm. They both stumbled and fell to the dirty ground. Landing half atop of her, his face was uncomfortably close to hers and both stopped laughing, holding their breaths, staring at each other.

“Am I interrupting a siblings feud?”, Richard’s voice brought them back to reality and Nick quickly rolled away and helped Steph getting back up to her feet.

“She destroyed my pyre!”, Nick explained, while dusting himself off.

The confused human looked at the two orcs: “A pyre?! Who do you want burn to death tonight?”

“It’s _Semv koster!_ Did you already forget?”, Steph replied with an annoyed undertone.

“Right…the fire ritual you told me about…”, Richard rolled his eyes.

“It’s not just a ritual…it’s an old orcish tradition to scare away the ghosts of winter…”, Nick added with flaring nostrils.

The human wasn’t able to smell it, but Steph was well aware of Nick’s aversion towards her boyfriend and tried to ease the awkward atmosphere between the three of them. “I promised Dad to help Nick with the wood pile, do you want to help us?”

“Sure, why not?!”, Richard grabbed Steph’s hand and they both followed Nick behind the barn to pick up more fire wood.

Steph showed the two men how to properly stack the logs, just the way her Dad had taught her ages ago.

They finished just in time when Bruce returned from town. He inspected their work and approved of it. Richard joined Nick to clean the stables and to feed the horses, while Steph went inside with her Dad to start preparing the food for their festive feast.

“Dad, where are the marshmallows? I only found the gummy worms.”, Steph was searching through all the cabinets.

“Fuck! I totally forgot about them!”

“Dad! For Jirak’s sake!”, Steph couldn’t hold back her disappointment.

“Marshmallows? Really? We aren’t ten anymore!”, Richard commented from aside, when he and Nick joined the father daughter duo in the kitchen. But before Steph was able to respond to her boyfriend’s blasphemy, Nick jumped in: “There’s no _Semv Koster_ without marshmallows!” And Steph couldn’t agree more.

Richard shook his head, already reaching for his jacket: “Alright, alright, I’ll just drive down to Maggie and get some.”

“Get the big ones!”, Steph instructed.

“The colored, vanilla flavored ones!”, Nick added.

“But not the twisty ones!”, the three orcs yelled in unison and started giggling, while Richard closed the front door behind him, shaking his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Semv koster – Bodzvokhan holiday, full moon before Equinox to fight away the evil ghosts of winter


	27. Chapter 27

“It’s an old orcish tradition to celebrate _Semv Koster_ on the last full moon before spring equinox.” Bruce explained the significance of the festivities to their non-orcish farm guests. “The traditional understanding of nature influenced our ancestors long before the Dark Lord was defeated by a farmer called Jirak. So it’s no wonder, that all the country lore, which used to help farmers to cultivate their land, somehow found their way into the prophecy…”. Bruce paused and then nodded towards his son: “OK Nick, would you light the fire now…”

Nick grabbed one of the torches, they had put up to light the dark yard and walked over to the pyre to ignite it. All the orcs held their breath and when the flames finally grew bigger, they all started to bay.

“OK,…”, Steph now rose to speak, “…every one of you received a small paper bag with gummy worms…and some of you are probably wondering, what you’re supposed to do with them. Well, you can eat them if you wish, but by orcish tradition you’re supposed to throw them into the fire as an offering. As you might know, the last full moon before the equinox is also called the worm moon, since this usually is the time, when the first earth worms crawl out of the ground, signaling that it is thawing. Our ancestors used to sacrifice real earth worms, but we’re no longer those kind of animal abusers and therefore replaced them by the gummy version two decades ago. This offering is supposed to help to scare away the ghosts of winter. And since the full moon isn’t bright enough to scare those creatures, we’re lighting these huge fires to brighten the night even more. So…who wants to sacrifice their worms first?”, she looked around. “Come on…don’t be shy! You’re even supposed to wish for something personal, when presenting your offering.” Again, all of the surrounding guests were quite reluctant to go first.

“Alright, alright…I’ll go first!”, Richard stepped forward and threw his entire bag of gummy worms into the fire. “I wish, that my girlfriend is saying yes, when I pop the question…”, he turned around and smiled at Steph.

“You’re not supposed to say your wish out loud…”, Nick threw in, instantly realizing, what this was leading too. With his eyes wide open he stared at Steph, who stood there frozen, while Richard walked towards her. He then got down on one knee and took a small velvet box out of his pocket. “Steph, ever since you saved me from the school bully back in kindergarten, I was madly in love with you. I know I was an idiot, when I asked Simone to be my Valentine instead of you in first grade and I always kept wondering, if you’d ever return my feelings for you. And when you moved back to Laramie after all those years, I instantly knew I have to take the chance. We’re having a lot of fun and you have no idea how much I love you and I really hope, that you want to spend the rest of your life by my side. Stephanie Madeleine Bozhko, would you marry me?”

Steph was shocked, utterly speechless. She looked around, as if all those bystanders could give her the right answer. Her Dad smiled at her, nodding his head, she looked down at the big rock, sitting in the ring box in Richard’s hand. Her heart started racing, and she knew, that she was about to have a panic attack. She stared at Nick, who was visibly distraught by what was happening and then stared down at Richard, who started to become a bit restless. “Steph…”, he stuttered, “…do you have anything to say, please? It’s getting quite uncomfortable down here.”

Steph felt tears rolling down her cheeks and stared at her Dad, who instantly understood.

“Richard…”, Steph was shaking, “…I am so so sorry…I…I…”, she looked over to Nick, who was still staring at her in disbelief, then looked back at her boyfriend “I…can’t marry you!” And before Richard was able to say something in return, Steph took off and ran towards the pastures.

“Steph…”, Bruce called after his daughter and then quickly announced the buffet to be open to distract all their guests.

“Would you look after your sister?”, he then addressed his son.

Nick just nodded and followed her into the dark. He wasn’t sure, that he was the right person to talk to her in such a situation, but Steph meant the world to him and it broke his heart, thinking of the state she must be in. “Steph!”, he called into the night, “Steph, come on…where are you?” Although the full moon illuminated the partly snow covered pasture, it became harder and harder to spot her tracks. Nick stopped in the middle of the field and closed his eyes. Concentrating on his primeval instincts, he sniffed the cold air. He smelled the moist earth, the stable smell that was blown over from the farm, he even smelled the delicate greens, that started to make their way out of the ground between those snowy patches. The air was crisp and clean and he was about to give up, when a distinctive smell hit his nose. He flared his nostrils and took another deep breath, and as if someone was igniting a small firework inside his brain, her unmistakable scent evoked an animalistic grunt from deep down his throat. He opened his eyes and knew exactly where to find her.

Steph was sitting behind a large oak tree on the far end of the family property. She could hear someone walking up to her and blew her nose into a tissue, hoping to be able to smell, who was about to find her in this fragile state. Her heart was pounding against her ribs, when she realized who was closing in on her. “Steph?”

She heard his lovely voice and swallowed: “Don’t come closer!”

Nick stopped right in his track: “Steph…I just want you to know, that I’m here for you…”

She got up and stepped from behind the tree and screamed: “What am I supposed to do, Nick?! What on earth am I supposed to do?!”

“I don’t know…I…I…”, he stuttered and walked towards her.

“Nick, don’t…”, she closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around herself, sobbing.

Nick stepped closer, reaching with his right arm for her. Steph panicked and tried to run away, but Nick was too close for her to escape and got ahold of her.

“Steph, don’t run away!”

“You can’t be here with me Nick!”, she cried.

“ _Vulnat!_ This is not our decision to make!”, Nick said with a firm voice.

Steph started throbbing: “You can’t stay in my life…”

Nick pulled her close to embrace her in a warm hug.

“But I need you…”, he whispered and kissed the top of her head.

“We can’t be together! This is insane!”

“I know, but…”

“There is no ‘but’… _Mar!_ ”, she freed herself from his embrace and pushed him away.

“Love comes in so many forms!”, Nick looked at Steph, “We might not be able to be mates, but maybe this is meant for something different. I’m as confused as you are, this really is some scary shit!”

“You are my half-brother for Jirak’s sake! How is this going to work out in some way?! Do you have any idea why I couldn’t say Yes to Richard?”

Nick slowly shook his head.

“Because every time he fucked me, I was thinking of you Nick! There, I said it! I’m the most disgusting person in the entire world! There is something deeply wrong with me! And you being around doesn’t help me in any way!”

“Steph…please…don’t be so hard on yourself…I’ve had similar thoughts about you…”

“I never noticed any substitute girlfriend of yours around…”, Steph snarled towards him.

“Fuck you!”, Nick became angry. “It’s not my fault you chose to live this charade with Richard…”

Steph was furious and jumped at Nick, punching his chest like a punching bag. Nick grabbed her shoulders and let her wear down all of her energy that was still left in her body.

“Don’t do this to me!”, she sobbed and collapsed against his broad chest. Nick pulled her even closer and held her tight: “It’s OK…let go of it…”

They stood like that for a while, in the middle of the dark night. Both speechless and completely helpless against all those weird emotions running through their minds.

“We should go back…”, Steph announced after a while and Nick agreed. “Can I hold your hand?”

“I think holding hands is appropriate for siblings…”, Nick giggled and a brief smile appeared on Steph’s lips.

They returned to an empty front yard and Steph instantly noticed, that Richard’s car was gone.

Everyone else was inside supposedly eating, their laughter echoed over the vast front yard.

“Would you stay with me outside for a while?”, Steph timidly asked.

“Of course…”

They sat down next to each other on one of the large logs, that were pulled close to the fire to sit on them.

Staring into the fire, Nick grabbed Steph’s hand and stroke the back of it, tracing the fine lines of her patterns.

Steph turned towards him: “Do you think fate has its own plans for us?”

“I do believe, that somehow destiny will show us the way!”, Nick smiled back at her.

They both lowered their heads and lost themselves in the soothing, crackling sound of the fire.

“Madeleine?!”, Nick suddenly giggled and squeezed Steph’s hand, he was holding.

Steph blushed. “Yep! My Mom was craving those little French pastries when she was pregnant with me…”, she chuckled.

“Do you know what I’m craving right now?”

His question evoked some really inappropriate thoughts in her already confused brain. Nick was instantly able to smell a change in her scent and quickly added: “I’m craving for Marshmallows!”

Steph felt ridiculous and had to chuckle: “The twisty vanilla ones?!”

“Yeah, the large twisty vanilla ones!”

Steph was somehow relieved, but quickly decided to seize the moment to escape the awkward situation, hoping to sort the stupid noise in her brain.

She squeezed his hand and jumped up to run inside: “I’ll get them for us!”

Nick took a deep breath and looked after her, wondering what on earth they could do about that undeniable sexual tension between the two of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bodzvokhan:
> 
> Semv - full moon  
> koster - pyre  
> Vulnat! - Look at me!  
> Mar - brother


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this is a short one...will add the next chapter soon!

Her heart was pounding, when she entered the small bank branch in Laramie, holding onto the small ring box, that Richard had left on her chest of drawers the other night. They hadn’t spoken since and Steph wanted to apologize for her behavior.

Richard’s facial expression wasn’t very joyous, when he opened his office door to meet her, noticing the small velvet box in her hand.

They both remained silent and sat down. Steph stared at the box in her hands and was hoping Richard would eventually say something to her, but he just looked at her full of expectation. The silence became unbearable and Steph finally placed the ring box on top of Richard’s desk, slowly pushing it towards him. “I’m not ready to get married…”, she said with a low voice. Richard took the box, opened it and stared at the ring. He looked back up at Steph, his eyes full of sadness: “Will you ever be ready?!”

“I don’t know…”, Steph sighed.

“Let me know, when you know…I might be waiting…”

“Richard…I…”

“It’s OK Steph. I was chasing this dream since elementary and it will never come true…”

“Don’t say it like that!”

“Be honest with me Steph…this would have never worked out…wouldn’t it?!”

She took a deep breath and looked him deep into his eyes: “I guess not…I’m sorry.”

“Well then…at least I know now, that I can finally move on…”, a timid smile lightened up his face.

“We had some fun though…”, Steph smiled back at Richard.

“Yeah…we certainly had…”, Richard chuckled, “…are human dicks really that much smaller than orc ones?!”

Steph burst out into laughter: “You’re asking me this now?! Have you never seen any of your team mates naked?”

“To be honest, I was always too intimidated to use the common showers back in High School, just because of that rumor”, Richard blushed.

“Well then, I don’t want to spur on your insecurity, but yes…orcs tend to be a bit larger…”

“Just a bit?”, Richard tilted his head out of curiosity.

Steph now blushed. “Well…”, she gestured her hands in the air, trying to give him an idea of a proper orc sized cock.

Richard leaned back into his chair, groaning: “OK, this is kind of daunting…did…did I ever really satisfy you?!”

“Let’s say, sex with you was special, because you always concentrated on more than just the pure…act”, Steph grinned.

“Alright, alright…understood. I’ll always be the only human, probably the lamest sex partner you ever had.”

“What gives you the impression, you’re the only human I ever had sex with?”

“I wasn’t?”

“No, you moron! You weren’t…and you certainly weren’t the lamest! I’ve had orcs that performed much worse than you.”

“Hmmm…worse than me? That actually doesn’t sound quite flattering…”, Richard had to laugh.

Steph blushed again: “I didn’t want it to sound the way it actually sounded. Sorry!”

“It’s OK…”, Richard smiled. “I know I might sound stupid, but…”, he looked at her, “Are…are we friends?”

“Yes, we’re Friends! Always were and always will. Plus it’s an advantage to know the bank manager”, Steph replied with a cheeky grin.

They looked at each other, reminiscing, until Steph slowly rose up from her chair: “I think I should leave now…”

“Yeah, got some work to do as well…Oh…I almost forgot…”, Richard opened one of his file cabinets behind him to retrieve an envelope, when Steph was about to leave, “It seems like your Dad is behind with some hospital bills, they want us to freeze your account!”

“They want what?!”, Steph couldn’t believe, what Richard just had said.

“Relax…I’ll give you a week to sort things out. They only want about $13,000.”

“Richard, we don’t have $13,000!”, Steph was walking in small circles.

“You could consider selling some of your land…I might even know someone, who is interested…just let me know, OK?”

“OK, thank you! I’ll talk to Dad. Thanks Richard, from the bottom of my heart. I promise you’ll hear from us!”

“No worries. We will find a way…”


	29. Chapter 29

Three beautiful broncos were unloaded and released into a portable corral, they had erected on the pasture right next to the outdoor arena.

Steph could watch those majestic animals for hours. Their warm breath, visible in the cold morning air, had something magical, while they slowly calmed down from the stress of their transport. Steph adored their gracious posture, and she somehow had always been fascinated by the flowing movements of their long manes and tails. They captivated her in a very special way, maybe because she as an orc was completely hairless herself.

Nick had been able to establish an extra source of income with wrangling and controlling horses for an old friend, he had met through his rodeo career. The ranch had the essential facilities and he brought in the necessary expertise. And the extra money didn’t hurt as well.

Steph had climbed up the cold metal railings, watching the newly arrived horses, when Nick approached her from behind.

“Hey Steph, would you help me taping my wrist?”

“Shouldn’t you be able to tape yourself after all those years?”, she jumped down from the railing, wondering about the deja-vu she just had.

“The last time I checked, you were the responsible physiotherapist on this ranch”, Nick grinned at her, exposing his filed tusks.

“I charge $15 for taping…”, she teased, while grabbing the sports tape and starting to unroll it.

“I actually needed an excuse to talk to you about something…”, Nick looked at Steph, who curiously lifted her head to face him.

“Dad told me he wants to sell some land…”

“Yeah, what about that? Richard found an investor, who wants to support the local farmers.”

“About that investor…it’s Bridgeworth, isn’t it?!”

Steph stopped taping Nick’s thumb and looked puzzled.

“Yes, Bridgeworth. What about them? I researched them and I couldn’t find something odd. Didn’t they use to sponsor you?”

“They’re the main reason, why me and Daryl had to retire…”

“Just out of curiosity…”, she continued wrapping the tape around Nick’s wrist, “…you’re not holding some sort of personal grudge against them? I mean, if they hadn’t axed you and would have continued to sponsor you…”, she looked up at Nick, “…don’t you think your accident would have happened anyway, ultimately ending your career?”

Nick shrug his shoulders: “I don’t know. The only thing I know for sure is the fact, that their CEO is a racist asshole. He is one of those ‘elves-above-all’-jerks and I have a very bad feeling about all of this…”

“Don’t you think they had a reasonable ground to end their sponsorship contract with you?”

“I’ve met their CEO once and he didn’t seem to be one of those reasonable business men. The condescending way he looked at me, full of disgust, don’t tell me you don’t exactly know what I’m talking about!”

“But Nick, we could really use this money…besides Dad already told me, they will be coming around to sign the contract tomorrow.”

“Steph, I’ve a really bad feeling about this! Please trust me! I have a plan to raise those $13,000… Jeremy, the guy who brought over those broncs, told me about a rodeo event in Douglas next weekend. Everyone is free to join, you don’t have to compete in the Grand Tour, to be eligible…”

“Nick, it’s been a while since you competed in one of those events!”

“I know, but this…”, he pointed his chin down to his wrist in her hands, and then nodded his head towards the horses, grazing on the tiny bits of greenery, “…kind of kept me on my toes.”

“You can’t compare THIS to a rodeo!”, Steph shook her head and cut off the tape, pressing the loose end firmly against the back of Nick’s hand. He get hold of her hand and looked her deeply into her eyes: “I got this! Trust me! There won’t be many professional riders in that rodeo, since everybody on the Grand Tour is busy preparing for a major rodeo in Nevada. I can win this!”

“I don’t know Nick…have you talked with Dad about this?”

“I already tried. I need you on my side Steph, please! We need to convince Dad, that Broadridge isn’t the right business partner for orcs like us.”

“But we need more solid arguments than just your hurt feelings…”

“When I’m done taming these beauties, I’ll call some old friends. They might be able to help us…”

Steph looked down to her dirty boots to ponder, then raised her head again: “OK cowboy…I don’t like the idea of selling land anyway, so…I’ll support your standing. We can catch up this afternoon, I’ll see my last client at 2pm.”

“Thank you! Thank you!”, he placed a soft kiss to her forehead and went over to the other guys, who were waiting for him to be ready for the first horse of the day.

Steph couldn’t help but stare at Nick’s magnificent ass. The leather chaps and the tight jeans underneath were highlighting his supple cheeks perfectly and she had to bite her nails, trying to divert her naughty thoughts.

Those longing moments had become a rare occasion over the last two months, but somehow they coincided with her menstrual circle and she couldn’t help but think, that it might be a good idea to go back to the pill, although she wasn’t dating anyone, just to get those hormones a bit under control.


End file.
